


Home Is Where Our Heart Is

by Semi_Weird_Shipper



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Sex, Altered Mental States, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Dates, Blow Jobs, Cannibalism I think?, Comfort Food, Confessions, Dubious Consent, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, Hate to Love, Healthy talks, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Manipulation, Mental wounds, Mind Control, Mind Games, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Public Display of Affection, Recovery, Sappy, Sticky Sex, Temper Tantrums, Threesome - M/M/M, kind of, symbiosis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-08-09 00:37:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16439786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semi_Weird_Shipper/pseuds/Semi_Weird_Shipper
Summary: After the blow up incident at the end of the Venom movie, I wondered: Where did Venom go?Venom misses Eddie, and chocolate, but they don't know how to get back to him. It's been so cold, so lonely. They're hungry, they're afraid... And there's an oddly interesting man investigating the crime scene he so happily caused a few days ago.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This ship will set sail in the direction that it pleases which means that I have it all planned out. I've been wanting to write this for a while now, and looky, I've done it!
> 
> Please... 
> 
> Read and enjoy.

"Sir, you have an incoming call from Pepper Potts, shall I answer it?" Friday asked her boss through the mechanically advanced headset on the bluish glasses he wore.

"Sure, why not, put the ol' gal on," Tony said cheerfully yet there was a faint sound of hurry in his voice as he walked through the crowded streets of San Francisco. It wasn't all that late, the sun barely peeking through the horizon in the afar, but it was late enough that his missing presence must be noticed.

"Tony, oh my gosh, I've been looking all over the world for you," a relieved yet frustrated Potts said immediately from the other line.

"All over the world, huh?" Tony hummed while looking around the heavily filled streets, hoping that his dark brown hoodie would hide him from any passing fans or inexperienced tourists, "That would take at least fourteen days or longer, and considering that it is _you_ we're talking about, then I'd say it'd take about fourteen years give or take."

"Oh, you asshole," Pepper tried sounding offended but it only turned into muffled laughter.

Tony smirked slightly, eyes scanning the area as he walked down a rather steep hill that was in ruins because of a past fight or battle. "That's a mean thing to say," he mindlessly announced while examining the massive damage around him.

Cracks, craters and divots decorated the many now unoccupied buildings surrounding this particular part of the city, and if he could recall correctly, Tony remembered the news reporter talking about some alien dude being chased by a bunch of murderous cars causing all of this damage. Fascinating. He gazed at the fallen telephone poles and broken windows.

"Where are you?" Pepper finally asked, a trace of amusement still detected in her voice.

"Not far," Tony lied but sounded assured anyway, pointing his phone's flashlight around to better inspect the damage up close, "Downtown you could say. I'm by the library beside the docks, southward of Liberty."

"Well, what are you doing down there?" Pepper asked confusedly, "Especially without your new and approved nineteen-sixty-four chevrolet impala?"

"The chevrolets in the shop," Tony said while crouching down to examine a rather shrewd looking scratch mark in the pavement, "I didn't feel like the anonymous stares, being swamped in fans with bad BO, and answering unsettling questions tonight...." He paused, seeing more claw marks up ahead and slowly moving toward them, "Yeah, I'm just going for a little walk. Nothing more. Just wanted to be left alone for a while."

There was a small silence on the other side of the line, but Tony was so transfixed on his personal investigation that he had not noticed it. "Wow, Tony, I... I don't know what to say, I mean, are you _alright_? Is everything okay?" a shocked Pepper asked.

"Oh yeah, totally fine," Tony acted casual although his brain internally screamed at the ideas of where these intimidating scratch marks came from, "Why you asking?"

"Well, it's just that you _never_ want to be alone, at least not in the city without one of your fancy cars or impenetrable ego tagging along with you," Pepper pointed out, adding in another slightly concerned, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"'Course," Tony said in a more chirpy voice, nodding his head although his partner could not see, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm just making sure, Tony," Pepper's voice softened and she took a second to say, "I know you still think about him sometimes... Steve."

Tony did stop, his heart sending a small jolt of pain surging through him, starting in his chest and spiraling in all directions. He looked up, gazing at the bent stop sign but feeling as if nothing were there. His eyes squinting in the forgotten despair.

No, he was not here because of _Steve_. He was here because he heard the news, grew curious, got a warrant and came to investigate the remains of what was so terrifyingly spoken of on the news. Whatever it was, it was serious. Something about a alien eating peoples faces off or something? And this people being murdered as victims in illegal experimentation? Also, a large explosion happening because an unclassified spaceship went boom in the sky? Thousands threatened.

Yeah, why _shouldn't_ he be here?

"Hey Pep, I'll call ya back in a little bit, k?" Tony quickly said, be ridding the image of the exact person who he didn't currently want to think about.

"Tony," Pepper said in distress.

"Bye-bye," Tony pressed the button in which ended the channel before he pulled off his glasses and kneeled down. Sitting the eye wear on his knee, he lifted his hand and rubbed his face, fingers going through his hair and palming his forehead. He sniffed once, keeping the loose emotions back before he opened his eyes and looked down.

There was a large scratch mark leading its way down the hill. Tony's eyes followed it. Down the road and across the rigid pavement. Curiosity rose once more, blocking all irrational thought as his legs lifted him to his feet, arms situating his glasses back on his head. The road he was on was blocked off do to all the expansive damage, but he had the warrant to do whatever he wanted. So he ended up strolling down the hill where the road ended by the sea.

There was something down there. Tipped over trash bins, broken, pierced newspaper dispensers and a toppled light pole. Ouch. One of the cars must have went right through it considering the dark skid marks across the road that silently screamed for themselves. However, Tony paid more attention to the claw marks, seeing how deep they went and following the pattern.

Soon he was at the bottom of the hill, gazing at the area where the viscous claw marks ended and looking up at the icy sea before him. Tony blinked, wondering and anticipating what could have possibly happened. It was unfamiliar, in a way, to him and yet he recognized it so well that it hurt. Being a superhero, he was use to stuff like this, but _this_ in particular... This was strange.

The trash bin in front of the expert moved suddenly, and Tony found himself slowly rising back to his feet, eyes locked on the medium sized container. "Who's there?" he asked and wrinkled his nose at his distasteful choice of words, "Or.. _What's_ there?-I should say."

The bin stayed still. Tony tilted his head and whispered, "Friday, are we getting any heat signatures, heart rates or anything like that?"

"Checking, sir," Friday said back.

Tony continued to look at the blue recycling bin, lost in his own curiosity and protective instincts. Everything else, like always, became a large blur and the only thing he could focus on was _this_. It was weird. He had never felt this way before.

"Sir, I am getting a faint heat reading, but nothing else," Friday replied.

Tony nodded and stepped closer, three feet away from the bin, "Where at?"

"The bakery shop's wall." Friday answered. 

Huh? Tony looked over at the taped away doors that belonged to an old, abandoned cake shop. He raised his eyebrows and shifted his feet, staring at the door like it was some obscene train wreck. A heat signature coming from _there_? Uhh. "Where?" Tony shook his head and lifted his hands out like this was ridiculous.

It was a _door_. A yellow, plain, plastic door with several scrapes and scratches on it, clearly experienced. But there was no life.

Tony unhappily stomped over to it and gazed up, reading the old hardwood sign at the top. "Tommy's Homemade Pies, hmm, that's original..." Tony muttered, taking a few peeks at the windows but finding out that they were blocked by curtains. Shrugging, Tony was about to step away.

And that's when the doorknob rattled.

Tony's attention was captured like a fish passing a bated hook. It was tempting. He thought, should he do it? Should he not? What was that? What rattled the doorknob? Was it his imagination? Or was it just someone toying with him?

The rattling happened again.

Tony felt his heart skip. He stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Hello?" he hollered, "Misses or Mister, please, open up."

After a minute of nothing happening, Tony grunted and knocked again, harder this time. "Hello, hello, hello! Tony Stark here, if you let me in I'll give you an autograph and sign whatever-- _oh_ ," the door opened.

Tony stepped back, politely waiting for whoever was inside to step out.

But no one did.

Confused, Tony squinted his eyes and peeked inside. It was dark. It was quiet. Hauntingly so. The door creaked as it opened more. The floor from inside sounded as if blisters were emerging from the ground. This made his spine tingle with thrill, but his head stormed with suspicion.

"Hello...?" Tony drew the word out further with his voice, trying to look inside without physically entering. But it was so dark. He couldn't see anything besides the barely noticeable shiny black tile of the floor. "Is anyone in there?" he hollered once more, "Whoevers there, I just want you to know that I've got a warrant, so I'm coming in, ok?"

The creaking of boards stopped and the wind got colder. Tony almost gulped, straightening his jacket and shrugging the tension out of his shoulders. "Ok," he said calmly and took a step forward.

And once his foot landed on the black shiny tile of the bakery shop, a large mass of sticky goo attacked him causing Tony to shout. He struggled backward, his whole right leg being quickly swallowed in this thick, tar like consistency.

"Whoa, hey, what the hell?" he waved his leg before feeling it go completely numb. Uncontrollably, Tony knelt to the ground, getting a closer view of the nightmarish thing than he wanted. "Ok, off, off off now," he said earnestly, reaching for his watch to activate his suit, "It was nice knowing ya, but I gotta scra-AM!"

Tony lost control of his right arm, the sticky black goo ghosting up his side and taking over his whole body. He shook his head and shouted for it to stop, his rear meeting hard with the ground as he tried using his only working arm to take his jacket off in hopes that he could get rid of this thing. But that only ended with an intense cutting feeling to his neck and the stuff moved rapidly across his face, lips, nose and eyes covered instantly.

The last thing Tony could try to do was pull it away which only ended with his own fist punching him in the head before he blacked out. The only thing he remembered being this crazy laughter echoing on throughout his head.

**Hello Tony.**

* * *

 

Life always seemed to be an alternate reality for Tony, even when he was a little boy, it always felt like there was something _more_ to what he was doing. Although he never knew quite what. With almost everything he did or tried doing, there was something he learned from it, or there was something given to him whether it'd be knowledge, a souvenir or just signs of what to do next. There was always _something_.

Tony didn't know this fact yet, or maybe he did know but was simply tired of contemplating. And who could blame him? He's saved the world lord knows how many times, he helps people constantly, and he's a mass inventor. There were too many things that happened that he didn't know what was what or where to start. So he let it be.

As Tony began to wake up, groaning sorely as he did, the first thing he noticed was this incredible warmth filling his body. It started in his chest and moved through his shoulders and waist, down his arms and legs making his fingers tingle. It felt odd, strange... _wonderful_.

Tony groaned against his pillow, face smothered in it as he tried gathering his tired thoughts. What happened? His forehead was sweaty and his body seemed to be overheating as if he had a bodily fever. Did he catch a cold while going out last night? It _was_ flu season...

Tony groaned once more before blinking open his eyes, sight greeted with the ever lasting expansion of his blue and red bed sheets and hot pink pillows. Confusion washed over him and he furrowed his brows against the pillow before slowly beginning to sit up.

Wait... Wasn't he in the city last night?

Tony's eyes squinted tightly as the bright morning sun from outside penatrated in through the glass windows of his room and temporarily blinded him. It even bothered him to the point he growled and jumped up out of bed, throwing a pillow at the window so hard the glass trembled. He paced around, thoughts lost as he tried bringing them back, confused, uncertain and _hungry_. He was so hungry.

Internally, Tony thought about last night, to that crime scene he investigated, the darkness and sheer intensity of the damage. Claw marks, trash bins, bakery... _Stuff_. That oobleck like goo that creeped up his leg and covered his body.

"Cat scan," Tony nodded, pointing a finger in the direction of his personal medical lab, "Cat scan right now."

As Tony sprinted to his lab, he failed to realize that he wasn't wearing a shirt nor shoes. His nipples and barely noticeable chest hair to the wind. But he obviously didn't care.

For some reason, Tony couldn't think to care about _anything_ besides last night. He couldn't think to talk because he didn't _feel_ like talking, and he couldn't think to change his clothes or take a shower or even make some coffee. But he did think...

**Hungry!**

Tony stopped at the elevator and grabbed his stomach, holding the edge of the wall and gasping. "Whoa, ok, that's new," he said to himself, a bit flummoxed and worried, lowering his head and admitting, "God, I'm so hungry."

Tony tried fighting it, telling himself that it was more important to get to his lab and deal with this asap, but his damn stomach kept growling. Angrily-almost- _viscous_ like he could just stop, drop and eat a whole corpse. But eww, that was nasty. What the hell was he thinking?

"Food first," Tony nodded, sweating even more as he sprinted away from the elevator door to the kitchen. From there he looked around for a second, deciding what he wanted to eat.

 **Chocolate**.

Tony headed for the cabinet and yanked the door off, eyes watery black as he reached inside and knocked several things over until he got to the delicious bottle of chocolate syrup. He grabbed it and opened the lid, bringing the container to his mouth and squeezing the bottle. The rich, thick chocolate filled his mouth and made him moan before the contents were gone in just ten seconds.

Tony threw the empty bottle harshly to the floor and grabbed the cabinet doors, pulling himself up onto the counter top. Crouching, he reached inside, roughly shuffling through stuff and knocking things over at random until he found a bag of reese's peanut butter cups and ripped it open. Then he grabbed whatever he could and stuffed as many chocolates in his mouth as he could.

**Mmmm! What is that?**

Peanut butter.

**We must have more.**

After he quickly devoured all of the reese's, Tony grabbed the deal of peanut butter and popped the lid off, his fingers diving in and collecting the thick paste before bringing it to his mouth. They slurped, eyes still clouded as they ate big globs of the thick, delicious peanut butter. Their large tounge came out, helping to ease the thickness of the treat as it entered their mouths, traveling down their throat and into their belly.

Once the jar of peanut butter was empty and spotless and their fingers were licked clean, Tony sharply turned around and said, "Thirsty."

Jumping off the counter, Tony stomped over to the fridge and yanked it open, severing the hinges that once kept it together. He looked around. Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, beer, wine, whiskey, apple juice, grape juice, Kool aid, wine, wine, mouthwash, whiskey and...

**_Chocolate_ _Milk_!**

Tony grabbed the jug of chocolate milk and tore off the cap before bringing it up to his lips and drinking heavily. The container, being a new full gallon, was hard to balance. He spilt some on his chest but continued to drink as if he had been in a desert for days.

They decided to help him. Coming out and widening their jaw, pouring the milk and swallowing it down with ease until it was all gone.

"Tony?"

They disappeared.

Color and reality returned to Tony's eyes and made him stumble back, his dazed hands dropping the mostly empty milk jug. He tripped, blinking several times and trying to concentrate.

"Tony, I..." Pepper came walking in, her eyes wide and head shaking with concern, "What happened?"

The kitchen was a total _reck_. Two cabinet doors were missing and the contents that were inside were now on the floor. The fridge door was broken. Tony was half naked, his hair was messed up, he had slobber all around his mouth and chocolate milk covered his chest.

"Tony?" Pepper slowly stepped closer, the worry and fright easily detectable in her voice.

Tony came to his senses, not fully, but enough to shake his head and cover his face. He couldn't speak, he was too confused. His brain felt strange, the feeling moving all throughout his body. He still felt hungry. So _hungry_. Starving, they were _starving_.

"Who's there?" Tony shouted, holding his head and looking down at the ground.

It made Pepper scream at his sudden behavioral outburst. "Tony, w-what's wrong? Should I call someone? Are you alright?" she asked in a quick voice.

**Tony, take us home. Now.**

"Ahh!" Tony grabbed his head and mindlessly stepped back, his brain feeling as if it were being squashed.

**We want to go home, Tony, take us home. And we will leave you alone.**

"Tony?" Pepper felt nervous to approach since the Hero was so... Livid.

"Get out," Tony grunted before screaming, "Get out!"

**No. We are going home, and you are going to take us whether you like it or not.**

"Tony!" Pepper cried, scrambling closer.

Tony looked at her pleadingly before he lost control and swung forward, grabbing her by the throat. He _smirked_.

**We are still hungry, Tony.**

"N-no," Tony tried grounding out.

"Tony! Wha-what are you- _clgek_ \- d-doing?!" Pepper choked desperately, and tried pawing away the strong hand around her throat.

**We could eat her head. Right now. Like chocolate. She will slither down our throats and you will never see her again. Is that what you want, Tony?**

"No," Tony felt his eyes water, voice straining and throat burning, "What do you want?"

**Take us home.**

"I don't know where that's at!" Tony yelled, hating seeing a best friend struggling and choking in his uncontrollable grasp.

**We'll show you.**

"T-To... ny," Pepper began to loosen.

**Do we have a deal?**

Tony tried fighting it, but it was too powerful. He growled and shook, biting his lip tightly before yelling, "Alright fine!"

**Excellent.**

Pepper fell to the ground. Unconscious but alive. 

Venom emerged from Tony's back and swept around him, grinning widely in his face. **So intelligent, we would feast on your brain if there wasn't so much inside of it,** he said directly to his sweaty face, **But we like it.**

Tony cringed, his heart thrusting inside his chest as he tried not to panic. Throat unable to form words. As he saw those demon white eyes, big sharp fangs and long wet tongue come closer, Tony clenched his eyes shut as it licked the side of his cheek.

Satisfied, Venom pulled away and growled, face inching closer to Tony's with every word he spoke.

**Take. Us. Home.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and enjoy!

As the dust settled in, so did Eddie. The cold, damp, clammy city was only a giant, dark silhouette to him now. Everything was quiet. Everything was _always_ quiet nowadays. With an added loneliness and painful despair, Eddie found himself lying on his kitchen floor, leaning against the sink cabinet with his eyes closed and fingers interlaced on his lap.

It was morning but he had stayed up all night, thinking, wondering... _Hurting_. Eddie had felt lonely before, but this- this was different. It was unexplainable, the amount of loneliness he felt, the heavy abandonment and desolation. It felt horrible. He couldn't describe it anyway other than it _hurt_ , it really, really hurt.

Eddie gazed at the kitchen to his new temporary motel room that Anne had helped him book. It was empty here, not much to eat or drink or talk about. It wasn't like there really _was_ anyone or anything to eat or drink or talk with. Venom was gone, and Eddie was pretty sure a big, important piece of himself went along with the symbiote.

Eddie sighed and tilted his head back, eyes burning with tears as his heart throbbed painfully within the knife like cage of his chest. Right in the middle where everything mattered. He missed Venom, he missed him _so_ badly. He missed that incredible fullness, that energetic mass, adrenaline rush and calm base of reality. Never lonely, never hurting, never tired, heh... But always hungry.

Eddie smiled. He hadn't ate anything in a few days now, only drinking small amounts of water when he needed to, and sleeping as much as he possibly could, but it was difficult without Venom there with him. His body felt hollow, empty and deserted, almost like an old, rusty trash can.

He promised Anne that he would get a job and he had already applied for several, but still, he doubt he'd get anything he truly enjoyed. The best thing that ever happened to him was gone, it was destroyed, wasted, gone. Just _gone_. And he had no way to get it back.

So why was he still hurting?

Eddie opened his eyes and blinked, looking up at the kitchen and wishing he had someone to talk to, someone to _feel_ , someone to feel and see and hear. His stomach growled, but Eddie pretended that it didn't bother him just like he did with everything else.

Looking down, Eddie knew he'd just have to live with it... Or better... Live _without_ it.

* * *

 

"Pepper, hey... Pepper?" Tony knelt down beside the woman and gently shook her shoulder, fingers trembling after doing the damage they just did, "Hey, I need you to wake up for me."

Tony grew more and more concerned by the second, his throat tightening as he tried rousing his best friend. The thing that had taken over his body was now lurking beneath his skin, and he could _feel_ it. The sensation alternated between super bumpy like bugs crawling beneath his skin, to a smooth sheet as if it were warm ocean tides moving through his skin. It could be discomforting at times, but it actually felt kind of... nice.

Tony wiped the sweat from his forehead and then wiped his hand on his black sweatpants. Shaking his head and trying to keep from panicking. He shouldn't be giving in like this, he shouldn't be listening to some alien thing that practically took over his body and made him choke out his own friend. He should merely wait for the right moment, contact Friday, call for his suit and take this thing on by surprise. But... There was _something_ going on, something much more serious.

This wasn't just going to require a few shots from his iron man suit. This was going to require skill, intelligence and manipulation. Besides, what's the point of shooting anything when the problem is literally _inside_ of you?

"Pepper, if you don't wake up, I'm gonna urinate all over your face," Tony said, his voice suppressing the worry and concern, replaced with his own dry sense of humor, "And that's not a warning. I really gotta use the bathroom."

"Mmm..." there was a faint noise of groaning, and movement.

Tony gasped and hovered over the awaking woman, his eyes full of panic as he reached out to cup her cheek. "Pepper? Pepper..." He growled when she didn't respond, "Pepper, come on, wake up. Please, I need to know that you're superior so I won't have to worry about my dry cleaning being delayed later on."

"Ohhh... Tony?" Pepper sluggishly turned her head over and opened her eyes, squinting in the light as memory came rushing back causing her to gasp.

As his best friend quickly sat up and scrambled backwards like a scared little puppy, Tony lifted his arms out and freaked, "Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

"What am _I_ doing?" Pepper said it harshly, like she couldn't believe Tony had the capacity to ask that question at all. "You were choking me, Tony, _choking_ me! I thought you were hurt, and I came in here and then- _then_ a-all this-uh! What is going on?" she shrieked out, throwing her hands all over the place.

"Well at least I know you're alright," Tony fingered his ear before taking a few steps closer, lifting his arm out to the flinching woman, "Its a long story. To cut it shortly, I'll start with 'you need to get out of here. Right now.'" Tony looked around frantically, searching for the door as if he had forgotten.

Pepper was even more flustered by his own apprehension. She gapped before grabbing his hand, "Tony, what happened? What's going on?" As he pulled her to her feet and began quickly leading her in the direction of the doors, she cried, "Tony, please, tell me!"

"Its not-!" Tony whipped around and grabbed his head, trying to think of what to say through all the low rumbling inside his head. "It's not important," he said rawly, thinking mostly about his best friend's health and safety rather than his own infected body, "I just need you to _go_. Ok. Go, get out, get away from here."

"But Tony," Pepper stomped her foot.

"Pepper, _please_!" Tony shouted again, tears in his eyes as he slowly backed away, "I can't handle losing another friend. I need to know that you're safe."

Pepper had flinched at his loud voice, but still held strong, "But what about _your_ safety?" Tears in her eyes as well.

"I'm never safe," Tony mumbled before thinning his lips and shooing her off again, "Now go."

Pepper stood there for a moment, willing to protest again and again until Tony gave up and spilled the truth, but there was something about the look in his watery brown eyes that explained everything. Unhappy, worried and afraid, Pepper forced herself to leave, exiting the doors and running down the stairs. Determined to find help.

Once Tony was sure that she was gone and safe, he made a beeline for the elevator, not even noticing the mess he unknowingly made in the kitchen.

**Excellent, Tony.**

"No, no," Tony pressed the big button to the elevator, pointing at it as if it were the thing in his head, "The excellence goes to _you_ my mind controlling friend. Excellence for taking over my body, making a mess out of my home, and strangling my best friend."

 **We do our best.** Venom spoke in amusement.

As the elevator opened and Tony jumped in, pressing the button that would lead to his office, he squinted his eyes and asked in a deep breath, "And what's with the 'we?' Oh no... please tell me there's not more than _one_ of you in there..."

**_We_ are what controls us. Together, _we_ are more. Together, _we_ make _us_.**

"I guess your owners never taught you appropriate vocab yet," Tony gazed up at the lights of the elevator, feeling it travel so slowly, "You know, instead of 'we' and 'us' you use first person pronunciation like 'I'm, I, me, my' and all that stuff."

Venom made a rather intriguing growl that traveled all throughout Tony's body like a washing machine. He blinked numerous times before the sticky black alien thing re-emerged and moved out in front of his face, sharply fanged and freaky.

 **First off, _we_ do not have owners,** Venom pointedly said with a mischievous smile, **Second, we chose to use whatever _vocab_ we want, because we... are Venom.**

"Venom, huh?" Tony tried to keep still as that dangerous thing stared at him with that creepy smile, "So, uhh, what do you want with me? Why'd you- or _ya'll_ \- choose me to take you home ( _wherever_ home is)?"

 **Because we like you, Tony, we feel your pain and we _like_ it,** Venom hissed happily, his wild tongue slipping out again, **We love the way you taste, the way you speak, and most importantly... The way you _feel_.**

As the elevator began to slow down, Tony stared at the wide ghosty whites of the alien's eyes, feeling an uncomfortable lump forming in his throat. "And how do you know how I feel?" he didn't like the thought of some alien thing setting him up as bait by taking advantage of his weaker emotions.

 **Because _you_ are _us_ , and we _always_ know how _we_ feel, ** Venom opened his mouth up wide and lashed forward.

Tony barely had time to holler, fearing the oobleck monster eating his face off, but grunted as it went to his chest, vanishing all throughout his skin until he couldn't see it anymore. Whilst expecting pain or torture, Tony was surprised to feel the _waves_ beneath his skin, flowing in a undeniably wonderful way that felt so _soothing_. It was unreal. Why would Venom be doing this to him? Especially when it felt so good.

Tony held onto the wall for leverage, trying to stay on stable feet but everything was turning to jelly as the demon continued to move everywhere and no where at once. It felt like being drunk except on the outside- if that's even experienceable- his body slurring, full, rolling, warm, _comfortable_. Like a heating blanket.

The ding of the elevator rang through Tony's woozy mind making him blink sluggishly and open his eyes, standing straight. When the door opened, he shook his head and rubbed his face, getting his composure set straight. "Get it together, you can do this, you can help an alien-monster-demon thing- with mind controlling powers and the ability to strangle your best friends by using your own hand- get home," he nodded before quickly walking into his office.

 **We are not alien-monster-demon thing,** Venom said rashly through his head, **We are Veno-**

" _Venom_ , yes, I heard you the first time, bud," Tony flicked his fingers while storming to his desk, reaching out to grab his spare jacket from the coat rack, slipping it on to hide his bare chest.

Tony plopped down into his office chair and immediately logged into his desktop, saying his name out loud for access. "Ok, bud, who are we looking for?" Tony's fingers were ready to smack away at the keys.

 **Eddie Brock,** Venom said and even peeked out over Tony's head, wanting to see his human friend even though it was through a screen.

"Eddie... Brock," Tony repeated as he typed in the name, wondering, "Isn't he that old news reporter dude who, like, lost bookoo because he falsely reported someone?"

 **Yes,** Venom hissed happily, wanting to see and feel the familiar warmth of his love, **We miss him.**

"Don't we all," Tony half smirked while searching for street address, contacts or something useful to help him find this guy.

 **You like him too,** Venom said, but his voice had this small surprise in it for he had just read through some of Tony's thoughts and felt his emotions before adding a solid, **You _miss_ him too.**

"Eh, he was a good news reporter, what else can I say?" Tony tried shrugging it off, focusing on what was really important. He had watched the news several times on his phone, and most of the time he loved to watch _Eddie Brock_ because he had this great, intelligent way of explaining things, and how he expressed his work was so believable and passionate. And Tony liked it.

 **You should go with us,** Venom moved back down around Tony, like a snake, he slithered over his arm and shoulder, **We like you, and we know Eddie will too. He loves all of us. And we love all of him.**

"Gee, what are you gonna say next- _'we all float down here?'_ " Tony grumbled while bringing up the room numbers to the motel Eddie had recently checked into, viewing the rules, "No thanks, bud, I'm good. I've got enough alien friends as it is."

 ** _Bad_ friends,** Venom looked Tony in the eye, smirking, **They are _bad_ friends, we can feel it, they are mean, they are rude and they are _bad_. We know, we don't like them either.**

"You sure do skim across the brain matter, don't you?" Tony tried ignoring him, feeling his heart sting at the words, "Maybe you should look on down to the left, I think that's where I store images to all the porn I watch."

 **It _bothers_ us, Tony,** Venom then began to glare, moving so close that the man could feel his damp breath, **It bothers us because it bothers _you_. And we don't like what bothers us.**

Tony sighed and sat back a little, trying to keep from showing his deeply hidden emotions.

Why didn't he just try to fight? Why didn't he grab his suit already, and try to tear this thing off him, or call some of his friends, or even do it himself? Why wasn't he angry? Why wasn't he hurting?

 _Venom_.

"I got the address," Tony informed, hand rising and then plopping back into his lap unceremoniously, "San Francisco. I was just there last night and... speaking of which, how _did_ you get me _back here_? Because I don't remember _flying_ back."

 **We ran,** Venom moved back over Tony's head.

"You _ran_?" Tony said in disbelief, not sure if he could believe that, "That's lord knows how many miles. How long did it take?"

 **One day,** Venom disappeared back inside of Tony, slithering around and exploring his warm skin, **We don't like loud noise.**

Tony nodded, a silence taking over the room as he thought for a moment. "Well it's pretty loud in my suit so whata ya wanna do?" he asked, getting ready to stand up.

 **We don't do it _your_ way,** Venom said in a hiss, **We do it _our_ way, the _better_ way. We run _together_.**

"Uhh, no," Tony said bluntly, lips thinning, "Nope, I'd rather take the safe, _non-threatening_ route. Plus, I get some say in this because it is _my_ body after all, and so we go by _my_ rules."

As Tony tapped on his arc reactor to insure that it hadn't been damaged sometime last night, he almost squealed when Venom suddenly showed up from his belly.

 **What is _that?_** Venom asked spitefully while eying the strange, glowing device, **We don't like it, what is it?**

"Its my arc reactor," Tony covered the sensitive glass and gave Venom an almost parenting look, "It's the very thing that keeps me alive, and _we_ don't touch it, got it?"

 **We disagree,** Venom began to rise further, his grin widening so much that he looked like a sociopathic clown. He leaned back down and whispered in Tony's ear, **_We_ are what keeps us alive.**

"Ok, I don't know what you're thinking about doing, but I need you to stop thinking about doing it... Ok?" Tony made a serious face, his hand curling around his arc reactor as much as it could, "We don't mess with this, alright. You wanna go home? Then _don't_ mess."

 **Hsss... Ok,** Venom moved back beneath Tony's skin, hissing and whispering, **But there's just one problem.**

"There's _tons_ of problems going on here, bud," Tony rolled his eyes, "Which one are you implying since you so generously care about us?"

 ** _We_ don't need _this_.** Venom had stated before that sticky black substance immediately moved in around the arc reactor.

Tony panicked, "Whoa, excuse me but, uhh, who told you that you could do that?"

As the black goo moved under his fingers, Tony gasped and tried sitting up, but his legs went numb and prickly and his back became paralyzed. "Venom," he sputtered, falling back against the chair.

 **Relax with us,** Venom cooed, showing his face and moving to the right where Tony's head was just loosely hanging, **We won't let anything bad happen to us. Just wait. We'll see.**

Tony couldn't say anything and he couldn't move. Too stuck and immobile. He tried looking, watching from the corner of his eye as that black mass became a tarp over his muscular chest. His arc reactor vanishing beneath it.

Tony's eyes shot back up and he grunted, struggling to move in fear for his life, but finding it impossible to do so. There was _nothing_ he could do, and he had no choice but to literally sit there and take whatever it was that this alien wanted to do to him.

As Venom slithered beneath the base of the arc reactor, studying all the tiny, glowing devices that kept it running, he rubbed over it a few times before digging down underneath it. Close to Tony's heart, he kissed it fondly before bidding it _bye-bye_ and pushing it out.

Tony jerked heavily.

Venom filled the left behind space where the arc reactor use to be before quickly healing it. The shrapnel spitting out. He quickly mended the mushy flesh, refreshing the stinky odor and filling in what was once lost until there was nothing but a spotless chest and smooth skin.

Then Tony could move again.

The hero sat up instantly, panting, gasping and clutching at his chest in desperation. But once he felt what was _not_ there, Tony froze and waited a moment, unable to think that it could be true. But when he looked down, he concluded that, yes, it was true.

His arc reactor was _gone_ , absent, out of his chest, now laying like an abandoned toy on the floor, the shrapnel along with it. All that was left was the tender yet smooth surface of what seemed to just have always been his chest. He rubbed it, finding it didn't hurt but rather felt kind of nice.

When Venom reappeared, Tony looked at him and almost whispered, "How did you do that?"

 **We can do _anything_ , Tony, and we wanted to help you,** Venom grinned, moving in to nuzzle Tony's hand on his chest, **We feel your pain so we take it away. Isn't that what you wanted? To feel safe?**

"I..." Tony couldn't form words, words were extinct to him. His arc reactor-the very thing that kept him alive and powered his iron man suit- was gone. Out of him. And he... He was still alive.

Honestly, Tony didn't know what to think. It was too overwhelming. He had tried _so_ hard so many times to try and find a way to resolve his arc reactor, make it more comfortable, less smelly and more protected. Several times he's failed. It was never comfortable. It always had felt weird and hard; a solid hole in his chest that felt empty _all_ the time. Phantom pains endlessly happened, so much that he almost forgot he had a heart.

This was... This was...

 **We'll take care of us, Tony,** Venom began to sprout out and grow, tracing the man's flushed cheek with the back of his sharp hand, **We will _always_ take care of us.**

With one more blank question in mind, Tony's sight was soon taken over by a big heap of darkness that surrounded him at every single angle. His body taken over in that thick, black mass. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is here!

Venom loved losers and outcasts, which was exactly what Eddie was, but _different_. There was a very big, significant difference in the _type_ of failures he's achieved. Eddie was a great talker, a great friend, a great news reporter and even a great hero, but there was a slight drop-off to his emotions. And Venom had felt it.

It was similar to what the symbiote had felt on their own home planet. And the thing is, is that it wasn't as in depth as true failure can feel. It was accidental and mistaken- so sudden the feelings would come- but it wasn't like how actual failure really feels. No. It was different than most things, but the same with _each other._

When Venom had attacked Tony Stark, they hadn't expected to feel that same aura lurking deep beneath the stone like field of the inventor's person. It was shocking and also a little sad, the things Venom was able to pick out about Tony. He had so many secrets, so much pain, and _no body_ that he trusted enough to talk about it with. There was embarrassment, shame, guilt, worry, depression and anger. So much anger.

Tony Stark was not an easy man.

In fact, if Venom was honest with himself, Tony felt more complicated than Eddie did. There was more there, more pain and suffering and failure. A true loser hiding inside a millionaire's body. Now _that_ was something.

But Venom already had someone they loved, and no matter how far or distant he was away, Venom was going to find him. Eddie was their first love, their first _match_ , and that was unassailable.

Once Venom was in a familiar part of San Francisco- memory restoration thanks to Tony Stark- they looked around at the many roads behind alley ways and moved back inside their host's head.

Tony immediately gasped and took a few unbalanced steps forward, grabbing onto the edge of the brick building beside him. He blinked, trying to take in his surroundings, the world a slight rush before clearing fully. It was mid day, probably one or two o'clock, people filled the busy streets with their conversations, many footsteps, and skillful looks.

"Wow..." Tony said whilst letting the outstanding facts settle in, "This is definitely next level advantage here. I gotta know how you do it."

Venom spoke through Tony's head, keeping themselves hidden from any bypassers. **We've already told you before. We do whatever we want, however we want.**

"But the ' _how_ ' is what I ask," Tony put some emphasis into it and looked down at himself, "How _do_ you get clean across the country in one full day just by running? That's pretty... That's pretty bizarre, even I gotta admit."

 **We have our secrets** , Venom moved through Tony like an under-skin blanket, warm and surprisingly soft.

It would have made Tony shudder if he wasn't so good at keeping it back. "And I also noticed your generosity in putting my shoes on," he scuffed at his bare chest and added in sarcastic bitterness, "But you didn't zip my hoodie up- How rude of you."

Venom growled but he knew that Tony was being sarcastic. **We hate the ground when it _breaks_ beneath our feet,** they moved along inside the fragile human, making sure to send tiny, delicate tingles down through his legs and feet, **And we _love_ the way the air shifts on our chest.**

Tony did shudder a _little_ bit, but for the most part, he stayed calm. Zipping up his jacket, he got ready to ask Friday to bring up the address, but stopped mid-thought when he realized, "You left my suit at home."

**We do not need that-**

"You son of a oxymoron, how could you?" Tony almost stomped his foot, cutting the symbiote off, "For your information, I _needed_ that. Now how am I gonna find your host man?"

 **We don't need that flimsy _suit_ of yours,** Venom spoke rightfully, **We _know_ your memories for they are _ours_ as well. We know where Eddie is. Just follow us.**

" _Follow you?_ " Tony squinted his eyes like it was ridiculous, shrugging his arms and stating out loud, "Uh, I hate to break it to ya, but I don't think that's gonna work out, you know, 'cause you're _inside_ of me and, as statistics go, you can't really leave my bod- _wh-ok!_ "

Tony's legs, as if they had grown minds of their own, stepped forward on their own accord and he was walking right into the bright sun that bared down upon the buisy street and bypassers. It felt strange. He could _feel_ his legs and feet and every step he took, but he just wasn't really _thinking_ about it. They were just moving at their own pace and he didn't have to do _anything_ really.

 **Listen to the sound of _my_ voice, Tony,** Venom internally surrounded the human to the point he looked the same on the outside but was completely drenched on the inside, **We know _all_ your secrets now, including the _bad ones_. They are thick, they are vain, they are _bad_. And we do not like bad things, Tony.**

Tony felt his heart shrink in its own sorrowful ball. Now that his arc reactor was gone, he could feel the intense throbbing of his heart more thoroughly, and he didn't know if that was a _good_ thing or a _bad_ thing. "Yeah well..." He mumbled while walking past anonymous people who stared strangely at him, "There's _a lot_ of bad in there. In my opinion... _too_ much bad, but what can I do?"

It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but Venom had felt the ping of pain that ran through Tony's body and went to sooth it immediately.

 **You can _stay_ with us, Tony, you can stay with us and we will _take_ the bad away,** he looked at the sadly pumping vessel that was Tony's heart and went in to brush around it, **Perhaps you've failed to notice, we don't _keep alive_ hosts we don't absolutely _love_.**

Tony felt his eyes water for some reason, as if the symbiote was magically twisting his fountain of emotions to maximum. His heart was rushed over with warmth and it _swelled_ in a sudden familiarity that he thought was permanently unalienable to him. It felt like... Love.

Love like the kind you feel while spying on a secret crush. Heart beating, breath hitching, adrenalin pumping, brain aching. It was one overwhelming thing that was beautiful above all other things because it was _hopeful_.

Tony hadn't felt anything like that since....

 **He will _never_ hurt you again, Tony,** Venom brushed his heart and kissed it, sharp fangs so close, it could easily be busted but he wasn't going to, **We won't let him.**

Tony was so drowned in the emotions that he felt as if his appearance wasn't even there, that he was just lost in pitch black and vanilla coloring. A symmetrical view with roller-coaster patterns and starry canvas lights. But he could still see the darker things that were in front of him.

People giving him _off_ stares, bumping into him, pushing, _shoving_. People who were kind and said _'excuse me_ ' with a bright smile and a kind wave, and also gave space and _patience_. But it went right past the Hero as he strode along down the familiar sidewalk.

"Yeah... Well," Tony pursed his lips to keep from frowning, one hand managing to curl into a fist at his side, "In just a few minutes you'll be gone, and this ' _he_ ' that you mentioned... He'll be back again. He _always_ comes back... even when I don't want him to."

Venom continued to bask Tony in the feelings he _knew_ he was enjoying, and simply huffed at his vague ignorance, **Maybe we can remedy that. You are a part of us, and we are a part of you. Admit it, Tony, you _love_ us.**

Tony bit his lip and growled to himself as the overwhelming feelings kept attacking him like the thickest ocean currant. "Love is a strong word, bud," he ground out, "One that I haven't used in a _long_ time."

 **That is a _lie_ ,** Venom said almost harshly as if to make his point clear, **You _have_ used it,  _several_ times. You used it with your parents, you used it with Pepper, you used it with him... You're using it _now_.**

"That's real astute that you figured all that out, wanna get married now?" Tony was torn here. He wanted the symbiote to quiet, to go away and never come back, but if he were honest, he also wanted him to stay.

It was ridiculous to admit, but Venom actually made him feel _good_ , he took the pain away, both physically and emotionally. There _was_ love. It was strong, making his heart beat in peace. Those horrible, livid thoughts that plagued his brain were gone, and the constant loss along with it.

 **We made it,** Venom said excitedly, clouding Tony's eyes so that he could gaze upon the motel entrance, **take us inside _,_ _Tony_.**

"As you wish, dearly beloved," Tony started walking up the steps, suddenly overcome by a wave of fear, jealousy and concern. He slowed when he opened the door and stared down the red hallway.

What was he going to do when Venom was gone?

Tony stored the question at the back of his mind, praying that the oobleck monster wouldn't find it.

 **Room twenty,** Venom rose from Tony's back, grinning in the empty hallway as they began walking up the stairs. He was excited, oh yes, he was _very_ excited. Finally this was happening. So long he's been away from his love, and now he can finally have him back. _**Hurry.**_

"I'm going, I'm going," Tony sprinted up the rest of the stairs, thinking about how good it felt to _feel_ his heart pumping like this. But yet it hurt to think that it wouldn't be like this for much longer.

When Tony reached the top of the stairs, room twenty was right before him. He examined the cheap hallway, the grey, scratched floors and torn red wallpaper. There was a small table along the wall a few doors down with an unplugged lamp sitting on top of it, and some crooked paintings scattered the walls but that was about it.

Even the door to room twenty seemed beat up. Just as Tony lifted his hand to knock, he asked, "You ready?"

 **Yes, we are _ready_ ,** Venom squirmed around inside Tony, ready to attack his lover with kisses and hugs and love.

Tony sighed softly and lifted his hand, his brown eyes blinking back the tears as he knocked on the door three times.

Then they waited.

Tony shifted back and forth on his heels, patting his legs as he waited for someone to answer the door. It was getting hot in here. He was starting to sweat. Was he actually _that_ nervous about this?

 **Where _is_ he?** Venom hissed in anger, worried and impatient.

Tony knocked again and grumbled, "That's what I'd like to know." If he was going to be giving up Venom, then he might as well give him up fast. Like a bandaid.

For another ten minutes, Tony fell into a pattern of knocking, grumbling and arguing until Venom had enough.

 **Stop,** Venom moved out in front of the sweaty hero, saying strictly, **I'm going to go in there. Stay here in case Eddie is not there.**

"Ok, and what's the deadline?" Tony asked, shaking his head, "Five, ten, fifteen minutes?"

 ** _One_ minute,** Venom said and started moving to the ground, **We'll be back.**

As the oobleck monster moved out of Tony and onto the floor, slipping under the crack of the door, Tony watched and blinked. "One minute," he whispered to himself, sadly, thinking, _knowing_ that that was probably the last time he'd see the symbiote again.

Turning around, Tony looked at the room and wondered how he was going to get home. He, by some miracle, had his wallet so he could get a pass and fly home, but still... _Running_ was faster.

 

As Venom moved across the floor of the mostly clean motel room, he looked for and found precisely who he had been searching so long for. **Eddie**. On the couch is where the news reporter laid, silently... Too silent.

**_Eddie_.**

Venom moved faster and climbed up the couch, getting ready to pounce the man until he was screaming in joy from his return. But upon seeing the _face_ of his love- prickly beard, dark circles under his eyes, chapped lips and smelly clothes- Venom froze before he lowered himself down.

Eddie. What happened to him?

Venom slowly, gently, in the most undisturbing way, lowered himself down onto the snoozing man and carefully worked himself into his body. And the first thing that slapped the symbiote was hunger, coldness, depression, exhaustion and _pain_. So much pain.

Venom healed it quickly, but it came back like a bad storm. _Gah_! What was that? Venom had never felt something like this. It was cold, cruel, sad and... _Oh wait._

He _has_ felt it before. 

With Tony Stark.

Eddie budged slightly, groaning as he turned his head over and fell into a deeper sleep thanks to the nice relaxing feelings moving through him. But it wasn't entirely _enough_ to take the _nightmares_ away.

Venom thought: he couldn't do this by himself. He was mixed up. He... He...

He must find Tony.

Slowly, in the same unnoticeable manner, Venom crawled off Eddie, kissing his head and promising him a swift return before quickly moving back to the door.

"Well..." Tony sighed and struggled not to frown. _Five_ minutes. "Guess he found him."

Tony lowered his head and sniffed once before rubbing his eyes and turning around, heading back toward the stairs.

Venom made it out the door right then and saw Tony start to race down the steps. Panicking, he slithered after him, knowing he couldn't say anything without a connection.

Tony sprinted down the steps, wanting to get out of this place as fast as he possibly could. He didn't want to be here for longer than necessary. He just wanted to get home asap so that he could check up on Pepper and forget that Venom _ever_ existed.

And then he could live with the pain.

Just as Tony made it down the steps, too racked up in his own thoughts to look up, he ran into something, or rather _someone_.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir!" a woman in a short work skirt, a pink vest and blue tanktop immediately stepped back away from the collision and apologized.

"Its okay," Tony reassured her and shook his head, trying to bring his conscience back forward to the real world, "Methodically speaking, I wasn't looking where I was going, so _I_ should be the one saying sorry."

"Oh, it's okay," The woman said assuredly and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, her hazel eyes fluttering up at the handsome man before her, "Wait... I know you."

At the sound of her gasp, Tony had to keep from stomping his feet and rolling his eyes. _Great_. Not this again.

"You're Tony Stark!" she cheered excitedly, covering her gapping mouth with her hands and blushing, "I can't believe it!"

"Yeah," Tony tried shushing her before her voice got too loud and drew attention, "Look, I'm sorry I can't bask in the glory of your comments and questions right now, but I gotta get back to work. It was nice meeting you though."

As Tony tried stepping past her, she reached out for his arm and said, "Wait."

Tony looked at her with vague annoyance, about ready to protest until she lifted her hand back and straightened her posture.

"My names Anne," she said courtly, trying to keep from stuttering or making any squeals.

"Oh," Tony said, keeping a positive facade in place so to not seem rude, "Hi Anne, it's nice to meet you. I'm Tony Stark, in case you didn't know which I'm sure you did considering you said my name and... _yeah."_

She nodded, a little put off by his tone and restless demeanor. An awkward silence happened, the two nodding and looking around before the strand broke and Tony looked toward the exit doors, "I gotta get going. It's ' _save the world stuff_ ,' ya know."

"What are you doing here?" Anne asked, looking at the Hero with curiosity and wonder.

Tony opened his mouth to explain but then closed it when the words refused to come out. "That is a good question," he said in a uncertain voice, "I'm looking for someone, actually."

"Who?" Anne asked as if she could help.

"I don't know," Tony tried shrugging again, thinking about it more than he should, "Eddie Bruce-Bruke- or _something_ like that."

" _Brock?_ " Anne asked, her eyes going extremely wide, "Eddie Brock?"

"Uh, yeah, I think that's it," Tony nodded, inching closer to the door.

"That's such a coincidence, I was just looking for him myself," Anne smiled and laughed at how crazy it seemed for this to be happening all the sudden, "I don't think he's home though. I've been trying to call him all morning, but I think he's at his job interview. Why? What do you want him for?"

Tony paused and looked up at the stairs, seeing the black oobleck trying to crawl down the steps. In just one instant his body panicked and he had to try _really hard_ not to gasp, run or flinch. "I..." He gulped, watching the vulnerable substance plop down the hard metal stairs, "I was just looking for... - _My wallet!"_

Tony _ran_ over to the stairs causing Anne to gasp at his sudden athletic outburst. He stopped and slid to the end of the stairs, lifting out his hand and silently hissing as the dark black goo quickly latched onto his skin, dissappearing.

"My wallet," Tony laughed and stood up, waving his little foldable wallet back and forth, "I _thought_ I dropped it by the stairs."

Anne laughed back and stated, "Well it's a good thing I ran into you, I suppose."

"Yep, I agree," Tony stood up, feeling the symbiote moving wildly through him.

 **Go back upstairs, Tony,** Venom said firmly.

"What?" Tony asked to himself.

"What?" Anne took a few steps closer and gave Tony a weird look.

Tony realized his mistake and stuttered to cover it, "Uh, w-what did you say? You know, _before_ I found my wallet."

**Go _back_ upstairs and _ask_ Eddie out.**

" _What?_ " Tony whispered in serous confusion.

"Oh, well I was just asking why you were looking for Eddie," Anne repeated, a little antsy about why Tony Stark was acting so strange, "Are... are you _okay_?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Tony nodded hurriedly, trying to answer the woman and talk to his lunatic friend at the same time.

 **Eddie is _lonely_. He needs somebody to make him feel better,** Venom explained, **Ask him out.**

" _What?_ No! _You_ go make him feel better," Tony protested in sharp whispers.

" _Uh_..." Anne kept giving him that weird, confused look.

Tony, finally tearing himself away from his non-understanding trance, made eye contact with Anne and smiled. "Sorry," he said politely, gesturing to his head and saying nonchalantly, "It's calls comin' in from work."

" _Oh_ ," Anne nodded once and smiled, remembering that she was in the presence of the one and only Ironman. "So..." she continued, "Why _are_ you looking for Eddie?"

Tony almost paled at the question, hearing the growling roars of Venom's voice inside his head. "Well, I was _suppose_ to be here to return something to him," he gazed down at his shoes and snarked, "It's really quite annoying, actually."

 _ **Tony,** _ Venom sizzled off in warning.

"Which is _why_ I want to get it done as quickly as possible," Tony added in a happy voice, rolling his hands around and trying to lie his way out of the situation, "Works calling me and I need to get back."

"Ok, well I don't think Eddie's home right now," Anne said in a slightly let down tone. She was _thrilled_ to be talking to the millionaire, but she just couldn't believe that Eddie didn't say anything about him. "I can shoot him a text if you'd like?"

"Nah, it's alright," Tony replied, showing the thankfulness in his brown eyes, "I've got it covered. Poor guys probably got more texts from me than he does from his girlfriend."

Anne made a face that Tony didn't understand, and she fiddled with her phone for a second, now aware that the Hero didn't entirely know.

 **Tony,** Venom sounded furious now, **Upstairs. Eddie. _Now_.**

Tony lifted a finger and gestured to the stairs, "Would you mind excusing me for a sec?"

"Yes, but I..." Anne couldn't finish as Tony turned around faster than she thought humanly possible and began running for the stairs.

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you, again," Tony waved as he waltzed up the steps.

Once he was upstairs in the loneliness of the hallway, Tony stopped and started in on his question list. "Ok, umm, _what_?" he said it like it was ludicrous.

 **Ask Eddie out,** Venom said for the hundredth time, **It will make him feel better.**

"And why can't _you_ make him feel better? I'm not Mister Harry Houdini here, I can't just _ask_ someone- a _guy_ to be precise- out on a date," Tony argued his opinion strongly, "Besides, this guy probably isn't _curvy_ in any way."

 **You'd be _surprised_ ,** Venom chuckled, sending more than strange waves drifting off through Tony's skin, **We know _all_ of Eddie's secrets. We wouldn't be asking if we _didn't_ know that you two wouldn't be good for _each other._**

"So you're playing _matchmaker_?" Tony placed his hands on his hips and made a face, "Look, I love that your mind processes this way- perceptive and highly classical- but it's just not my thing, ok. Yeah, you caught me, I walk a curvy road, but here's the thing- The curvy road that I walk, I walk on it _by myself_ and _only_ with myself."

 _ **Incorrect,** _ Venom rumbled loudly, **Don't try to fight it, Tony, you _know_ how you feel. You _know_ what it is that _you_ want. Don't deny it. _Try_ it... Knock on the door.**

Tony almost freaked out. Venom was doing that-that _thing_ again. That thing where it reads his mind and emotions and points them out like buttons, making Tony pick each one up and thread them through the truth. It was crazy and yet so enticing because Venom made sure that it was _comfortable_ and yet _truthful_.

"This has already happened once," Tony whispered, gazing down at the floor as his heart beat in forgotten sadness.

But Venom washed it away as fast as it came. **Eddie _is not_ like _him_. We know because _we_ don't love people like him. ** Venom then _pressed_ on, **Knock on the door... See for yourself.**

It took a minute, Tony thinking that he could play this game until the cows came home, but his thoughts stalled everytime Venom moved through him. It was like the symbiote was magically erasing all his negative thoughts as fast as they came, leaving him with nothing but openness and vulnerability.

Dang, this was _stupid_.

Tony knocked on the door again, and this time, he was surprised by how fast it was answered.

"Hello?"

Oh... _Oh._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long for me to update! I just needed to watch Venom again as an energy boost and I wasn't able to buy the movie until yesterday :( I'm sorry!
> 
> But hopefully this chapter will satisfy! It's hard to write out Tony and Eddie; their personalities are so similar and yet so different....

When Tony saw the face of the man who he remembered seeing so much about on the news, his throat grew tight and he forgot, for the moment, what exactly he was doing. The man was shirtless and his hair was ruffled like he had just gotten out of bed. And it took every effort for Tony to keep his eyes from wandering, hearing the echo of Venom's amusement in the back of his mind.

After a moment of silence and the shirtless man looking around, waiting for an answer, Tony shifted and opened his mouth, "Uh, hi there... Uhh... _Look_ , I know this is a bad time and all, but I just wanna make sure: you are Eddie Brock, right?"

Eddie's eyes squinted and he opened the door up a little wider, staring at the shifty man in front of him with confusion. "Yeah, I'm Eddie Brock," he wasn't sure what exactly the stranger wanted, but he wasn't in the mood for tricks right now, "Why?"

Tony hummed and raised a finger, "That is a good question- You see, I don't know if you're aware or maybe you just haven't taken your morning stabilizers yet, but my names Tony Stark- and uhh- I was wondering if you would go out~"

"Whoa-whoa, wait," Eddie lifted his hand up to silence the not so strange stranger before him, "Let me just rewind you there for a second... Did you actually just say that you're Tony Stark? _The_ Tony Stark?"

Tony wanted to sigh; it was always the same reactions for him. Instead he simply smiled and fingered the pockets of his pants, nodding, "Yep- unless I have an identical twin that I don't know about- that's me. Tony Stark, but you can leave 'the' out of it; save yourself a few extra breaths because, uhh, it... It looks like you're gonna need them, and uhh, are you okay?"

Eddie, in the midst of panting to death, turned around and held his forehead, his legs feeling terribly unbalanced as a cascade of emotions rushed through him. _Tony Stark?_ The Tony Stark was at his flat, knocking on his door and asking specifically for _his_ name? What the _~_

"I, umm..." Eddie kept from pacing as he tried running his hand through his hair to straighten it up, studying his living room to see if there was anything embarrassing he needed to hide, or trash that he needed to throw away. He was stricken by the sight of his shirt lying inside-out on the back of the couch and made a beeline to get to it until he remembered his special guest.

Turning faintly, Eddie huffed and smiled, his face full of disbelief, wonder and excitement. God, he hoped he wasn't blushing. "Well, I don't have much," he said like it was okay, trying to mask his nervousness, "But if you want you can come inside, or is this about something else, or maybe you have the wrong person...?"

"Coming inside would be great," Tony nodded optimistically, his hands clasped together as he thought about what a bad idea this was, his brown eyes shining with enthusiasm.

Eddie smiled dorkishly and held open the door, waiting for the super hero to pass through, his own blue eyes scanning him over with wonder. "Wow," he said in astonishment, closing the door before heading over to the couch, "I-I honestly can't believe you're here right now. Is today Sunday or Monday? Because usually Sundays aren't really my kind of thing; I'm always feeling more stressed out so I prefer Mondays, you know?"

 **He's a talker...** Venom rumbled deep within Tony's mind, maliciously, **Like you.**

"Well technically Mondays are when we tend to lose our emotional intervals and that causes our commutation skills to drastically plummet, and which in that case, I too actually prefer Mondays over Sundays," Tony watched as Eddie struggled to quickly turn his shirt inside out, his eyes fluttering before looking away once he realized he had been staring.

 **There is no shame in looking, Tony,** Venom's tempestuous voice vibrated through his head, **We think about him the same way _all_ the time.**

" _You~_ " Tony caught himself from talking openly to the symbiote, instead pointing at Eddie and saying quickly, "You have a nice home, I mean it's _fantastic_ , not even I could beat a design as provoking as this."

"Get outa' here," Eddie smirked as he put his shirt on, smoothing it down over his chest and abs, "A millionaire like you- there's probably not a thing you couldn't be better at than anyone on the whole face of the planet."

"Well I can't weave baby blankets so there's one thing to commit," Tony said with dry humor, clearly trying to be funny even though he knew it wouldn't work, "And the only food I can cook without causing a house fire is ramen noodles- and that's just in the microwave- not on the stove."

Eddie laughed at him, and Tony found something, an emotion or feeling, running through him and pooling in his chest. It was warm. He smiled and felt as the strangely wonderful feeling expanded all throughout his body.

"I can cook tater tots and pizza in the oven but that's about it," Eddie gestured to his messy kitchen, trying to joke back.

Tony shifted and admitted, "Better than I could ever manage."

**See, you _do_ like him.**

Tony kept from showing his internal struggling by shifting and cocking his head to the side. Eddie looked down and fiddled with his fingers.

"So..." Eddie sounded a little nervous once again, his eyes somewhat noticeably downcast as he looked back up at the famous hero, " _Why_ are you here, Mr. Stark?"

"Oh, please, 'Mr. Stark' was my dad's designation," Tony huffed amusedly, placing his hand on his chest and smiling, "Tony's just fine, no need for _Ironman_ or _super genius_ or whatever else they may call me."

"Alright," Eddie nodded, a look of wonderment and faint surprise in his strangely addictive eyes, "Tony."

 _ **Mmm,**_ Tony's eyes widened as it literally felt like Venom was purring inside him, and was that- was he _moaning?_ **We love the sound of your name coming from his lips.**

Ok. Tony was going to have some _major_ parenting talks when he gets home.

"I, uhh..." Tony moved his head from side to side, "I'm trying to figure out how exactly I should word this, which is funny because when it comes to talking, I'm usually insatiable, but now..."

"Oh, I haven't... done anything wrong have I?" Eddie asked, now suddenly very uncomfortable and concerned.

 **Stop him; he's doing it again!** Venom bellowed, **Make him feel better, now!**

"No, no, you haven't done anything wrong at all," Tony waved his hands in a calming motion, "Heck, I'm pretty sure _I'm_ the one who's screwing this whole thing up... You know what, let's start this two way convention over. Hi, I'm Tony."

Eddie chuckled softly, still unsure as he leaned forward and shook the millionaire's hand. "Eddie." 

Once they were only so many feet away from each other and now at a clean slate, Tony shrugged his shoulders and pushed the words out there like a grown person should.

"Look, the real reason why I ran all the way over to this terribly polluted city was because I wanted to ask you out on a date, and now I'm making terrible first impressions that I'm never going to get back, so could you just do me a small favor and not tell anyone about this, because I have a bad enough reputation as it is for saying horribly embarrassing things when it comes to~"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone there," Eddie lifted his hand, shutting the millionaire up as he gave him a confused, alarmed stare, "A _date?_ You're asking _me_ out on a date like in the movie Ten Things I Hate About You when Patrick asks Kat out on a date?"

"That is an astute observation, but no," Tony said with a smile, "You see, unlike _that_ scenario where the date is misconstrued, I'm actually being sincere and honest about my decision here."

Eddie just stared at him, stared as if there was nothing but a large hole of oblivion before them, and nothing could commence. He blinked once, twice, three times and still nothing would click into place. It was very disconcerting.

 **Wait for it,** Venom drew out before Tony could say anything.

Eddie's afflictive silence soon came to an end and he swallowed the thick lumpiness in his throat before asking, "You... You really wanna ask a poor, broken down, old news reporter- who also happens to be a male with a lotta' dept in his wallet- out on a date?"

Tony twisted his question, "That's basically the gist of it, yeah. But only if _you're_ willing to go out on a date with a handsome, famous, boastful superhero, who _also_ happens to have a lot of dept, and can't supervise in maintenance for house fires."

"The answers practically in the question," Eddie made a face like this whole thing was ridiculous, "Why're you even asking me out? Tony, I'm a loser."

**But you're a loser too, a big one, bigger than Eddie. You reek with depression and destruction. A mentally unstable _rabbit_ is all that you are, and Eddie knows exactly how you feel.**

Tony took a few steps closer to the other man, his face blank of pretty much any positive emotion, but he wasn't going to let this get in his way. He should really just drop it, turn around and leave, pretend like nothing has happened and wish the other man a good life. But he knew that the monster inside him would never leave unless he tried doing _something_.

But was this actually an effort of trying to get _rid_ of Venom, or trying to get him to _stay?_

"Look, I know you're confused and probably in a lot of denial right now, especially since you've got a hot superhero asking you out on a date on a Monday afternoon, but I gotta honestly tell you: I'm not any less of a loser than you are," Tony gazed off and pursed his lips to the side, hiding his shame and guilt, but still it managed to leak out, "I've seen more casualties than you could ever imagine... Even started a couple myself."

Eddie felt his heart ache at the words and how Tony's voice seemed to change from its carefree enthusiasm to a depressed, sad rumble. He frowned, his chest throbbing in a divide between emotions and thoughts.

"I have no doubts that being a superhero is hard and all, but _seriously_ , why would you want a guy like me when my life's nothin' but a mess of rotten tomatoes?" Eddie shrugged like he really was useless, but he wanted to know the truth behind Tony's intentions.

**Tell him that you are the same, tell him that you relate.**

"Ok, first of all, I'm not a superhero- I'm just a man _like you,"_ Tony gestured to himself then back at Eddie, giving him his serious face, "Second, I'm asking you- _you specifically_ \- out on a date because you're the _one_ person in this world that I feel like I can relate to the most."

**Tell him that you love chocolate. You'll take him out on a chocolate date!**

"And third," Tony took in a deep breath, going in for the kill, "There's a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop just down the road. So... Whata' ya say? Wanna go on a date with a 'not superhero' and get related?"

Eddie crossed his arms, his chest tightening as he thought about what he should do. He hadn't had feelings for anyone since he separated from Anne and then lost Venom. Wilting at the thought; he knew he was never going to get a second chance with either of them because Anne was getting married to Dan soon, and Venom...

Venom was gone.

"I guess I could give it a shot," Eddie gave Tony a weak smile, "Only if you don't mind being publicly seen with a 'not loser' news reporter."

Tony grinned, "It's a date then. What time you want me to come pick you up?"

"Uhh..." Eddie fidgeted with his hands and looked up at the clock, "Well I've got a job interview here in a few hours, so maybe tomorrow around noonish? Or is that too soon?"

"Hey, any time is my time," Tony said casually, raising his thumbs and agreeing, "Tomorrow at noon? Got it. I'll be here."

"Sounds like a plan," Eddie couldn't subside a happy grin from spreading across his face, his cheeks turning a small pink as he finally combusted.

After exchanging phone numbers and emails, Tony left with a laughing Venom inside his head and a promise to go on a date tomorrow.

* * *

 

 

As soon as Tony made it back home, thanks to Venom's super sonic speed, he was immediately bombarded with police, one terribly overwhelmed Pepper Potts, and an old friend.

"Tony, oh my gosh, thank goodness," Pepper ran over to the superhero and threw her arms around him, "I've been so worried, Tony, what happened?"

Tony separated from his worried friend and looked at all the commotion around them. There were a ton of police crammed into the tiny space of the outside parking lot of his tower, including a few shield members and a _terribly_ familiar face.

"Hey, Pep, why's-uhh... Why's reckless the third here?" Tony asked, his eyes wide as he stared at the blond headed man across the street.

"I saw the footage, Tony, th-that _thing_ , I saw it," Pepper grasped her own head, and Tony could see the weathered circles underneath her tear soaked eyes, "I-I didn't know what else to do, I called the police but they didn't know either."

"And so you called _him?_ " Tony bit his lip really, really hard, trying to keep from expressing his anger, "What made you think _he_ would know what was going on?"

**Bite her head off!**

"No!" Tony shouted loudly causing Pepper to jump. People from all over the place stopping to look at him.

"Oh my gosh," Pepper whispered in horror, " _Oh my gosh_... It's still inside of you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's not a threat to anyone," Tony shrugged and walked past Pepper, trying to get further up on the ground so he could make an announcement.

" _Not a threat?_ " Pepper followed after him like he was crazy or daft, "You _strangled_ me, Tony! That thing made you strangle me, a-and when I looked at the footage, I saw what it did to you~"

Pepper gasped loudly and Tony turned around to give her a sarcastically spontaneous look, lifting his hands up in surrender.

"You're still alive..." She breathed, "B-but your arc reactor, I-I saw it..."

"Ya see? He's friendly," Tony smiled and turned around, making his way back to the tallest stand he had lying around, "He also says he's sorry for strangling you. He was just being moody."

**_LIAR!_ **

Tony chuckled.

" _He?_ " Pepper sounded even more freaked out as she chased after the Hero, "Tony, do you have any idea how bad this looks right now? People thought you were kidnapped o-or hurt! There are agents all over the place looking for you."

"That's why now I'm going to calm them down," Tony ignored Pepper's immediate protests as he climbed on his tallest source. The grand piano.

"Hey everyone, listen up! Gather 'round," Tony hollered, waving people forward with his arms, "I just wanna make a quick announcement, let you all know that the lost and found is _full_ now, alright, there's no need for anymore search parties. You can go home now and attend your daily routines."

People stopped and started whispering while others broke out into fits of questions and concerns. Tony sucked in a breath and breathed it out heavily.

"I've said my word." Tony lifted his hand up, greeting people off with his fingers in spock before he waved and jumped down from the piano.

Rummaging through the crowd and heading for his nearest elevator, Tony was actually pleased to hear that Pepper was getting trampled in the crowd, unable to escape as she called for him. But he knew that, eventually, she would find her way out and come to scold him, but right now, Tony wanted nothing more than to be alone.

All the loud noises and endless chatter was bothering him too much.

When Tony got inside the elevator and shut the door by pushing the level five button, he sighed and slumped against the wall, palming his forehead.

 **You did it, Tony,** Venom cheered inside his mind, clearly happy and excited about all that had happened today, **You found our home. Maybe you aren't such a loser after all.**

"If that's true then why didn't you _stay_ with your home, hmm?" Tony asked, aggravated and worn out. He just wanted everything to end already.

 **Because _you_ are what makes it a home,** Venom showed his face causing Tony to jolt in surprise as he got really close, **And we... We _love_ your heart.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update! School is almost out though, and I will be experiencing the throws of freedom in which summer break gives; Updates constantly- yippee! 
> 
> Anyway, here we go, chapter 5, please read and review, constructive criticism and helpful feedback only, please. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The elevator door opened with a delighted ding. Tony lifted himself from the wall and walked out into the spacious hallway of his work area while feeling the symbiote moving all throughout his body and it was so... _comforting_.

It was as if Venom was actually wrapping himself around the very souls of his heart, purring with warmth and these silent, calming promises. He touched his chest where the arc reactor use to be; it was so hard to believe that it was gone. How was that even possible? Why would Venom have any reason to help him in such ways or even make him feel this good?

As he got to his lab, Tony paused at the electronic door, hesitating to type in the code as he realized that, for once, he didn't really feel like working. As a matter of fact, he didn't feel like doing anything besides eating and getting some rest.

 **What's the matter, Tony?** Venom's snake like voice asked, and Tony could _feel_ it vibrating through his head.

Tony hummed, "Wha- oh... It's nothing. Just uh... just a little tired is all."

 **And hungry!** Venom moved down to Tony's stomach and somehow got it to rumble quite loudly, **We are hungry, feed us.**

Tony raised a brow and held his suddenly _empty_ belly, surprised by the change of feelings. He looked at his lab door, debating. He usually worked to blow off steam and ignore the endless mountains of stress on his shoulders, taking the pain he got from catching himself on fire or abusing his muscles to their greatest extent to mask the deeper pain he felt on the inside.

But now _none_ of those types of pains could be felt. Well... besides the one in his tummy.

"I guess I don't have anything to really lose at this point," Tony shrugged and turned away from his lab door, heading the opposite direction to where the stairs were, asking, "What are we hungry for?"

 **Chocolate.** Venom said excitedly.

" _Chocolate?_ " Tony repeated, eyes squinting, "Is chocolate like some type of energy bar for you are what?"

 **We love chocolate. It is sweet, it is warm and it is tasty,** Venom emphasized all the words that defined his favorite treat with happy growls.

Tony huffed as he made it to the stairs, "It's also _loaded_ with calories. Do you know how obese I could get?"

 **Not very.** Venom laughed. **We can eat all the chocolate we want and you'll stay the same.**

"You have no sympathy what so ever," Tony commented dryly as he jogged up the stairs, "I mean, you manipulate my stomach and consume all its contents and then whine until you get more. Keep that up and I'll be dead in about a month."

 **We told you!** Venom barked inside him. **You are us and we are you. Whatever you eat, we eat too. We are the same.**

This came as a surprise to Tony who couldn't help but to think. So maybe he was wrong about this certain thesis where Venom ate all of what he did and absorbed all his energy. He had never thought about them being _together_ as a whole person. That would explain the hunger and the need for extra food. That would explain almost _everything_ actually.

When Tony was at the top of the stairs, taking off down the hall to get to the door to his room, he asked, "Ever hear of veggies?"

 **No. Who are they?** Venom demanded.

Tony smirked to himself, pausing as an evil idea split inside his head, "Oh they're nothing bad. I swear. As a matter of fact, I find them pretty appetizing in some cases."

 **Then what are you waiting for?** Venom didn't care what veggies was. If it tasted good and brought this much of a positive emotion out of Tony, he'd try it. **Take us to it.**

Tony smiled, "Not a problem."

 _"Tony,"_ said a voice that wasn't Venom.

It made Tony instantly tense, his feet coming to a stiff halt like there was a twenty foot tall wall in front of him. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand as if there was a wanted murderer in the hallway with him. And in this situation, there might as well be. 

 **Bad guy?** Venom asked, and Tony knew that the symbiote could see the other person in the room before he himself got to look.

But Tony didn't need to look. From the moment that voice drifted through his ears like a sad melody, emotions immediately bombarded into fireworks inside his head, and Tony felt the offending if not painful sting that traveled to his heart. Anger, hate, betrayal, hurt and more. It all pooled inside him, and suddenly his body felt heavier than the earth itself.

Thinning his lips out, Tony turned his head back before kicking his stiff legs into gear and stepping back until he was facing the other man. "Steve..." He said in a awkward voice as he tried to keep his emotional chest closed, giving off a single nod.

Tony had the biggest urge to bite his lips as he looked to the side at the floor, but his therapist said not to- well technically _Pepper_ said not to. Tony didn't think he needed therapy so he never went, but Pepper always decided to go for him since he was too stubborn to do it himself.

"Pepper told me what happened," Steve confirmed in a slight suspicious, slight concerned tone, "Is it true?"

 **It's _him!_ It's the bad guy! Let's bite his head off!** Venom roared inside Tony's body, quickly going in to wrap around his aching heart. If this idiot mortal was making _his_ Tony feel so badly, then he would have nothing to do with it.

"Kind of. Pepper tends to exaggerate a lot so most of what she says- if not _all_ of it- was probably a lie," Tony turned to face the wall because, honestly, he didn't think he could bare to look at the other man without crumbling. Venom moved inside his chest like a liquid heating blanket, enveloping his heart and making it tingle. It was soothing, he had to admit, but not enough to get to the deepest depths of his hidden anguish.

"Tony..." The other man took a few steps closer, his voice just as gentle and as reasonable as it had been all those years back when they were friends, heroes, _inseparable_. Different and torn apart only by lies and distrust.

Tony wanted to blast a hole into the nearest wall, walk through it and seal it up, pretend like nothing ever had happened. **What is the matter with you? Why won't you let us eat him!?**

"He'd probably taste like winter soldier," Tony shrugged like it was a worthless attempt.

Steve made a face, hands on his hips, "Tony, I saw the video, you don't have to hide this from me."

" _Hide_ this from you?" Tony raised his brows, turning around and pointing offensively at himself, eyes not yet making contact with the blonde headed male. "Is that what you think I'm doing? _Hiding_ this from you?"

"I think you're trying to hide it from everyone, Tony," Steve said, his voice now laced with that knowing, goody-two-shoes ring. Like hell he knew what was going on. "And I also think you know what kinds of conflicts this thing will create if not properly dealt with."

Tony made his own type of annoyed face, looking up at the blonde even though he really didn't want to. He had a whole bucket list of snide comments, smart remarks and rash things to say, but he bit his tongue in order of keeping it all contained. "So what up with the new beard? Cold or something?" he randomly asked, turning his head away and pretending like an anonymous piece of string from his jacket was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Tony," man, Tony was getting tired of hearing his name spoken from that damned, betraying voice. "You know what this thing can do, you've seen it, you've been _apart_ of it, and if it continues to remain as a threat to this team and~"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a sec," Tony waved his hands, ignoring Venom's loud shouts of, **_Bite his head off! Let's eat him! Tear his limbs off! Drown him with our spit!_ ** He pointed at the blonde and glared, "Did you just say _team?_ No, no, there is no team, Rodgers, there's only you and us. You left because _you_ had to support some murderous machine, causing several conflicts, and now you think that you have the right to question me about my _own_ murderous machine who, need I remind you, happens to be well trained _and_ domesticated."

Tony crossed his arms, jaw slack as he shrugged his legs in anger at the blonde headed man. "Nu-uh, I don't get it, Rodgers, and quite frankly, I don't think I'll ever want to. You're a fugitive to me now, and I have gone way past sharing secrets with you.... You've proven _pretty_ well that I can't trust you."

"Tony~"

"And please... Stop calling me by my first name, i-it sounds so wrong coming from your mouth," Tony lifted his hand to stubbornly shield his face from the blonde.

Venom's threats and curses rang through his head, through his body, sometimes soothing and sometimes provoking. Tony listened to it all, his fists aching as he clenched them tightly at his sides. The hurt was fought off as immediately as it came, and Tony found himself going on a mental roller coaster ride.

"Stark..." Steve lifted his hands out, sighing as he looked at the wall for a split second, ducking his head and shaking it before looking back up, "You can't keep blaming me for what happened forever. Buckys been isolated and contained. You're safe now. He can't hurt you anymore."

"And what about _you_ , Mr. Good Samaritan?" Tony asked with a dramatic scuff, "I don't see you in isolation, I don't see you in a container."

Steve rolled his eyes and clenched his teeth, "This is getting ridiculous, Stark. You _strangled_ Potts and ran off. Like it or not, I'm here and I want answers."

"I'll give you answers," Tony walked up to the blonde headed male and glared up at him.

**Bite his head off!**

"With the way I feel right now, I'm tempted to let you," Tony growled to himself without even knowing.

Steve grimaced at him. Tony pulled himself back when he felt the symbiote beginning to travel through his arms. Tearing his viscous glare from the heroic man, Tony walked away, only stopping at the door to say a quick, "I kept him from eating you, you know. If that's not enough of an answer then I don't know what is."

"Tony..." Steve sighed heavily when the door closed with a loud slam. 

* * *

 

"Wait, wait... he _asked you out_?" Anne grasped her head as she frantically followed the old news reporter through his scattered apartment.

Eddie stopped, placing a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth as he lifted his hands out, "I know, crazy right? And get this, he's taking me to _Ben & Jerry's_; that's like my childhood playground."

Anne made a surprised face when Eddie shoved a cookie into her hand and grinned at her, mouth filled with his own cookie as he turned around and headed for the rickety wardrobe. She sighed to herself, holding the cookie close while watching her x-beloved flounder about. Honestly, it was the happiest Anne had seen him in weeks, and she couldn't deny the true relief she felt washing over herself as Eddie bloomed into his real self again.

"Well, Eddie, I'm happy for you," She said, voice raised so the news reporter could properly hear her from the other room, "But don't you think it seems, I don't know, a little _strange_ that he just randomly asked you out on a date all the sudden?"

"No, I wouldn't call it strange," Eddie hollered, tossing clothes from his wardrobe as he practically got up inside it, "I think it was mutual, like a love at first sight kind of deal, you know? Maybe without the _love_ but... you get what I mean."

"First off, Eddie, I didn't even know you were homosexual," Anne admitted, setting her cookie down on a spare plate on the counter, wiping her hands on her skirt as she stumbled by all the mountains of clothes stacked on the floor, "And second, don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?"

When Anne walked into the bedroom, she froze when she saw Eddie standing in front of the dresser mirror, holding a tuxedo in front of his chest. "What do you think he likes? Should I go French or New Yorky? Oh, maybe he likes steampunk? No! I should go _country!_ City guys like that opposite community approach, right?"

Anne's eyes were wide at first, but honestly, she had no reason to be surprised. "I think you're going too far, Eddie," She said with a unamused smile, shaking her head, "Tuxedoes, steampunk... _country?_ Don't you think it's all a bit much?"

As Eddie tried digging through his dresser, tossing a few shirts over his shoulder on the way, he asked a hearty, "And who asked you, again?"

Anne scoffed and threw a shirt back at him, "You did, you idiot."

"Hey, that's not very nice," Eddie stood up and held out a dark blue and black t-shirt, "Though I do agree, maybe I _am_ going too far. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it... I don't think Mr. Stark was even wearing a shirt this morning."

Anne gapped, "Then what was he wearing?"

"A jacket, I think? I don't know, you saw him too!" Eddie hollered as he searched a few rows down to find a decent pair of pants.

"Breifly!" Anne retorted, waving her hand offensively at the old news reporter, "He was in too big a hurry to go talk to you!"

Eddie paused, his hands stilled on the polished wood of his dresser as he looked back at his x-beloved. He was excited, his heart was pumping almost harshly with joy and anticipation. He hadn't felt like this since... since Venom sacrificed himself to save him.

"I guess I uhh... kind of got caught in a mix, huh?" Eddie made a dismissive roll of his shoulders, standing up and rubbing his neck, "First the job, then the marriage, and then an invasion of sociopathic aliens and now... this. I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty screwed up right now."

Anne approached him slowly, her face neutral at first until it turned into a small smile. "Eddie Brock, you've _always_ been screwed up," she said, smile widening.

Eddie gave her a raised brow, clearly unamused by her words, fidgeting with the shirt in his hands as he mumbled, "What if... what if he doesn't like me, you know... what if..." He licked his lips and sighed, "What if I'm _too_ screwed up, I can't... I can't risk that. I'd ruin everything."

Anne shook her head, "You are impossible." At seeing the slightly earnest look on the news reporter's defeated face, her voice softened and she smiled, "Just be yourself, Eddie. Screwed up, not screwed up, you're you, and if Tony Stark can't accept that then is he really worth it?"

Eddie seemed to be debating. It was true, what Anne said. Heck, it wasn't even the first time she had said it to him. On most dates he tried his hardest to impress the other person, but never ended up entirely satisfied. Then again, none of those dates had been Tony Stark.

* * *

 

The next morning.

 

Eddie looked in the mirror at himself, making sure his hair was set straight and not all over the place like an overused mop. He hadn't gotten as much sleep as he anticipated, but that was probably because of all the excitement bubbling up inside his body, causing every nerve to dance alive. Eddie wasn't sure where all the brightness came from, especially since yesterday morning he felt like a starved animal in a rodent trap. _Something_ had made him feel alive again, freshed, happy, confident.

Eddie thought all the joy came from Tony, but he wasn't quite sure. He had been on dates before and most of them came with the same eagerness and self cautiousness. Anne was right. Just because he was asked out on a date at the most random time by Tony Stark himself doesn't mean that he should just submit into the feelings completely.

A part of Eddie wondered if yesterday had even been real or not. Maybe Tony Stark made a mistake? Maybe he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time? Did he know about the whole Venom situation? Is that why he wanted to go on a date? Just a simple way to get simple information? Or maybe he was just wanting a buddy to help him out on a top secret mission.

Eddie fingered his temple; he was driving himself into a brain aching state of mind, his thoughts spinning like a non-stop turbine inside his head. He hadn't even _met_ Tony today and he was already getting anxious.

Looking back at the mirror, Eddie smoothed his hands down the length of his chosen shirt. He hoped that _casual_ , as Anne put it, was okay with the billionaire. It wasn't like Tony dressed to impress him yesterday which made Eddie feel somewhat more relaxed. Besides, they were just going to an ice-cream restaurant. It wasn't like they _had_ to dress fancy.

"Ok, you got this, buddy, no worries, no diapers today," Eddie ruffled his sleeves and shook his arms, ridding them of the overwhelming tension.

Tension that instantly returned when the alarming sound of his obnoxious doorbell rang throughout the apartment. Heart racing like he was free falling, Eddie sucked in a breath and made a beeline to the front door. Gosh... This was even more worse than his job interview yesterday.

Upon grabbing the door handle, Eddie stopped and took in a few much needed breaths, his ribs aching from his over pressured lungs. He did his best to calm, gathering his coherent thoughts and shaking the unimportant ones away. He could do this.

"Hey, Mr. Stark-oh or I mean- Tony!" Eddie mentally slapped himself, plastering on a big smile as the door framed the billionaire in front of him perfectly.

Tony looked at him through a pair of light blue glasses, tipping his head before placing a hand on his chest, sighing, "Thank God we weren't having a dress contest."

Eddie gave him a curious raised brow but after a second of looking the hero up and down, he understood what he meant. Tony was wearing black jeans, a pair of expensive looking jogging shoes, a grey shirt and the same reddish black jacket he was wearing yesterday. "Oh..." Eddie laughed in relief, relaxing slightly, "Yeah."

Tony reached up and took his glasses off causing Eddie to straighten in his expensive, calculating stare. "So..." Tony looked down at his chest, "I suppose Animal Planet and Blue Whales are something we both have in common, or do you just wear that to impress the ladies because it's alright if you do, I'm just saying, some times even I wear clothing to emphasize worldly hazards just to make a good impression."

Eddie nearly blushed, quickly looking down at his shirt and touching it with one hand. "Oh, this old thing... _Nah_ , I don't wear it to impress nobody. It was actually given to me by a group of experts from the marine wild life services for donating money to help clean trash out of the sea or something like that," he explained, thankful for the conversation start although it still seemed awkward and he still felt like an idiot.

Maybe Tony didn't care, or maybe he thought his shirt and story were just stupid.

Tony nodded, and Eddie rose his head when he heard him quietly murmur something. "What was that?" he asked, maybe a little too quickly.

Tony's eyes shot up to his, waiting a moment before flickering off to the side, his hands stuffing themselves inside his jacket pockets. "Oh, nothing, I was just trying to remember the last time I ever made donations to the wildlife reserves," he tilted his head back and forth before admitting, "It's been a while. I should look back into the habit some time, especially if they're giving out shirts that are as essential as that nowadays."

Eddie smiled, although he strongly wondered what the hero had silently said beforehand. Maybe he commented his clothes sorely to himself, or maybe he was making fun of him for his habits.

Eddie brushed it aside. "Yeah, totally, that would be... That would be cool," he remarked, grabbing the hem of his shirt and looking down at it with a satisfied nod, "And I kinda like their style too, so... Yeah."

When he looked back up, Tony was staring at him with a type of smile that made Eddie's heart turn in his chest. His belly muscles tightened and his throat closed in on itself. It felt like he was being strangled, limbs dangling by ropes in the suddenly very thin air.

"Wanna go catch a brain freeze?" Tony asked almost cheerfully, stepping aside and gesturing to the hallway.

Eddie nodded, not sure if he could manage real words yet or if he should give himself more recovering time. Whichever, he quickly reached back inside his apartment, snagged his keys from the hook on the wall, and walked out. Turning around, he locked his door and tested the knob to make sure it was locked.

"So..." Tony's voice almost sounded as if he wasn't sure he should be talking or not, "If I heard correctly: you had a job interview yesterday?"

Eddie stuffed his keys in his pocket, cheeks burning as he tried to keep the flattery back from Tony remembering something so simple. "Yep, sure did."

"And how'd it go, if you don't mind me asking?" Tony looked at him as they began walking down the hallway, the silence in the air overcome by their friendly conversation.

"Oh it was great! Not necessarily the job I really _wanted_ but..." Eddie mumbled at the end, eyes half set at a smile as he shrugged his shoulders, "A jobs a job, and I'm _done_ staying at this asshat excuse of an apartment."

"I do not blame you," Tony said enthusiastically, "What'd you get?"

"I..." Eddie cut himself off, feeling embarrassed by his choice of a job, "It's not the most _exciting_ job in the world..."

Tony seemed to slow, giving a look that said he didn't mind, "You don't have to tell me, but I'm just gonna throw it out there. I have no desire to judge, as a matter of fact, whatever job you ended up with, I'd probably be glad to take it... It's not always easy being, well.… _me_."

As they descended down the steps, Eddie thinned his lips out. "Pizza delivery," he winced when they made it to the bottom step.

Tony stopped to give him a skeptical look, lifting his hand as he lowered his head, "That's-I would be... No, you're pretty much screwed there."

Eddie laughed, because honestly, it was funny and pretty much the truth. He was screwed. But just as he was about to comment back, Eddie's eyes squinted in confusion when he saw Tony wince, reach up to hold his forehead and whisper something quietly, _quickly_.

"Uhh... You doing okay there?" Eddie asked. 

Tony looked at him, the traces of some sort of panic or surprise washing away quicker than Eddie could properly catch a glimpse of. "Yeah, totally, why do you ask?" Tony responded, seemingly upbeat. 

Eddie would save his suspicions for later. "Nevermind." 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to update. But summer break is here and so is my freedom to write!
> 
> Also, a big THANK YOU to all those who helped me out in the last chapter, I really appreciate your support.

**Tell him he's beautiful,** Venom rumbled all throughout his body, and Tony could hear the excitement racing in his voice, **Tell him he's _sexy_.**

Tony almost pulled a face- not that what Venom said _wasn't_ true, but- because he was saying it out loud inside his head and that was distracting him. "So what happened to being a news reporter? Too many flashing lights?" He asked, expertly ignoring the taunting voice inside his head.

**Boring!**

Eddie chuckled, "That'd be the get-away description, I suppose." He looked at the billionaire as they neared the exit doors, his smile attempting to fade into a frown as he tilted his head back and forth before pretending to focus on the ground, admitting nonchalantly, "Nah, I lost my job 'cause I tried hocking a loogie out on a guy who was attempting illegal experiments on people with these.... It's complicated..."

Tony watched as Eddie stuffed his hands in his pockets, his darkened eyes staring at the floor like it was a silent self-conflicting monster. **Make him stop, you fool! Make him happy!** He heard Venom shout and nearly hushed him out loud but caught himself, twitching and focusing on the old news reporter. **Don't you ignore me, I will eat your face off and fuck your-**

"But, as humanity always fails to embrace the truth, I was fired and then ended up going on this whole hallelujah adventure with..." Eddie paused again, suddenly washed over by a giant wave of guilt and pity. Venom... How could he ever forget.

Venom was gone. He sacrificed himself to save both the world and Eddie, and in the end, what had Eddie ever done right to earn the symbiotes trust, life and love? Why was he even still _alive_? Eddie had been so caught up in the emotions these last few months, doting on the heart breaking thoughts and questions, he never thought of himself... until Tony came along. Then it just seemed so easy to forget why he was even still here. And for some reason, it made Eddie feel really selfish, because he was alive and Venom wasn't. He didn't _deserve_ to be happy.

"With who?" Tony asked and reached out to open the door for the emotionally ridden man.

Eddie looked up and smiled, his aching heart perking up with a pulse of surprise and charm at the genuine gesture. He allowed himself to take in the comforting feeling, nodding and saying a small "thank you" to the billionaire as he walked out the door.

Tony followed after him, realizing that Venom had gone quiet inside him. Thank goodness too. He really wanted to hear this.

Once they were outside, Eddie shrugged away all his antsy stiffness and shook his head, "It's not really something I wanna talk about right now, if that's cool with you Mr. Sta-or I mean- _Tony_! Sorry, I'll get it right eventually..."

Tony smiled at him, joining his side as they began walking down the street. "You know..." He suddenly said, looking at his date with mock realization, "You remind me of someone."

Eddie raised a brow at him, "Oh really? Who?"

"Ever hear of Spiderman?" Tony asked, hiding in the smugness.

Eddie's eyes brightened, "That guy who can, like, shoot webs or something out his hands?"

"Wrists, actually," Tony corrected and made the gesture with his hands pointed outwards, "He's always too respecting around me. You shoulda' saw his face the first time I told him to let up with the respect and call me by my first name. You'd think he saw me in a princess gown or something."

Tony heard Venom's more than satisfied, grumbling **yesssss** rumble all throughout his body at the sound of Eddie's laugh, and the sight of his smiling face.

"That bad, huh?" Eddie laughed, giving the super hero a charmed look, "Is he your apprentice or work pal?"

Tony pursed his lips, "Well... I guess you could say that." **Who is this _Spiderman_? We want to meet him!** "Later-" Tony accidentally said and had to come up with a quick excuse for life saving words, " _Later_ we were going to _train_ , but... date nights more important than being twisted up in a man made web of silk."

Eddie blushed and looked down at the ground, admitting softly, "You didn't have to do that. I... I could have waited."

 **Tell him that you love him more than anything. Tell him he's important!** "I know," Tony caught Eddie's widened eyes, his voice lowering when he said, "But I _really_ wanted to get ice cream headaches with you."

 ** _Awww!_ Look at his adorable face! We want to eat it off!** Venom hissed in excitement, **Keep talking, Tony! Keep making him do that!**

Tony would have to agree. The flattered somewhat embarrassed and heated look on the news reporter's face was irresistible. He couldn't have hidden his smirk even if he wanted to.

Eddie had to look away in order of not humiliating himself to unforgettable managements. "I've always loved ice-cream; maybe not the _headaches_ , but... you know. Sometimes ya gotta sacrifice the brain cells for a little of your favorite desert," he said with a cheesy smile.

Tony hummed in agreement, "Would you be surprised if I said that I've never been to Ben & Jerry's before?"

Eddie's eyebrows rose in utter bewilderment. "What?" he asked as if he had just been told that he was a female, rubbing his ear like he had something stuck in it to obstruct his hearing, "Did you just say some sorta sinister shit or am I just deaf?"

Tony gave him his own raised eyebrow look, clearly amused, "Ice-cream and road trips were never my thing growing up. I was an uptight, _'stick to the familiar'_ type of guy, so I guess you can consider this as one of my ingenious attempts to loosen up a bit."

Eddie laughed softly at that, not sure of what else to do. It was obvious that Tony Stark had a rather dry sense of humor, he could say some off things and somehow make them make sense, and he wasn't at all afraid to admit the most embarrassing or personally random things about himself, but Eddie wasn't sure how to take his last comment. He wanted to ask the billionaire why he was so, as he put it, _"uptight"_ and why he had never loosened up much. He also wanted to ask... _Why with me?_

Instead of voicing his thoughts or ranting mind questions, Eddie simply asked in the same at ease voice as Tony, "Does that also imply that you haven't ever had a brain freeze before?"

Tony huffed a laugh, and maybe it sounded a little sarcastic. "Every time I shoot myself into the stratosphere, bud," he smiled widely at Venom's dangerous threat, **You better not even _think_ about getting into that suit! We'll tear it apart before we ever let something so astronomically foolish happen!**

"Oh, I forgot about that! Man..." Eddie clenched his teeth in disappointment, "What's it like to fly in that thing? Do you actually get brain freeze or is there some sort of major scientificy protocol you use to avoid that?"

**He's so cute! Look at how much he loves you!**

Tony nearly rolled his eyes. "Thank God for evolutionary science," he said with his hands together, "When I first started out, I didn't just get brain freeze, ok, I got _body_ freeze. Of course my excuse was that the atmosphere shouldn't be so, you know... _cold_ , but that caught up with me in time."

They rounded a corner and started walking down the sidewalk that lead to the scrumptious ice-cream restaurant, but Eddie and Tony's focus remained fixated on each other.

"Did you install a car heater in your suit or something?" Eddie asked.

 **Yes, yes, tell him you did! Tell him or I'll eat your head off!** Tony really didn't want to listen to the symbiote that was currently feasting on humiliating past mistakes in his memories, and he certainly did not want to voice such thoughts. **Tony....** _Ugh, is this really necessary?_ **Yes!**

"Yes..." Tony admitted very stiffly and tilted his head forward, pretending that the sidewalk was the most interesting thing in the world and not his silly admittance. He could tell that Eddie had caught on as he felt his immediate, open mouthed stare burning holes through the side of his head. "Oh look. A penny."

Tony bent down and picked up an almost completely solid black penny from the hot concrete, standing back up and mumbling, "And its heads up. Lucky me, huh?"

"You _actually_ tried putting a car heater in your suit?" Eddie asked.

Tony did roll his eyes, pocketing the dirty penny for no reason and grumbling at the symbiote inside his head. He had never told anyone about his fruitless attempt hijacking an old car, taking out the heater and hooking it up to his suit. He hadn't even told Pepper because it _didn't_ matter and what happened _after_ he tested it didn't matter either.

**Yes it does.**

_'You are so dead, buddy.'_ Tony growled and rubbed his face, "Yes, I did, and the industrial heating compounds melted right through the inner layer of fabric, caught my ass on fire, and released these deadly chemicals all throughout the suit. Apparently my chosen inner cushion was extremely flammable, and... _yeah._ "

Eddie's smile vanished into open mouthed shock, "Holy... _cow_ , I bet that sucked."

Tony blinked, "It. Did."

"And..." Eddie lifted his finger and squinted his eyes, smirking tightly, "I bet it was a Lamborghini, huh?"

Tony looked at the other man, dully shocked. "Are you a secret spy?"

Eddie laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Nah, I'd be rich if I were one of those... Actually, a long time ago I had to interview a bunch of folks who's lamborghini's either exploded or caught on fire. It was a catastrophic event, I'll tell you what, the sales that year were outrageous and car marts were overflowing with lamborghinis."

Tony pursed his lip at the information. "I think I remember something like that happening way back when," he admitted and tried remembering if he had ever watched the news with Eddie in it.

**Ask him.**

"Oh, it was good times," Eddie chuckled to himself and looked down at the ground, "Good times..."

"Do you miss it?" Tony asked the same time Eddie suddenly stopped walking. He was about to ask what was wrong until he saw the colorful sign sitting just right above their heads, "Oh hey, we're here."

"My childhood playground," Eddie mumbled as he stood back and grinned up at the old ice-cream sign.

Tony would pretend not to notice how the news reporter walked around his last question.

"You are going to _love_ this place. Forget about stratosphere brain freeze," Eddie waved his hand dismissively through the air before gesturing to the heaven before them, "The brain freeze this place will give you is totally worth getting diabetes for."

 **Yes, yes, we agree! We want diabetes!** "That's a _disease_ , not a flavor." Tony accidentally muttered.

"What?"

 **We can't get diseases.** Tony nearly let his eyes widen too far as he straightened his back and opened his mouth to explain himself, but he couldn't find the right words. "I-it's nothing, I just... I was just thinking about something stupid..."

"Did you just say that diabetes was a flavor?" Eddie asked like it didn't make any sense.

"No, I was just asking myself if there was a flavor called diabetes," Tony mentally patted himself for voicing a confident although ridiculously dumb answer, "Don't know why, I mean, it's not like I eat this stuff on a day to day basis."

"Well nows' the time to remedy that!" Eddie said enthusiastically and started walking to the door, waving Tony forward with his fingers.

Tony followed through with an obnoxiously happy Venom squealing out in excitement through his head. The ice-cream shop was particularly small and bland with only a few sporty posters drenched across incredibly depressing grey wall paper, and four tiny tables placed in front of the tinted blue windows. People dressed in pink and brown uniforms stood at the glass counter, fake smiles of grace hiding their barely surfacing issues on life and work as they served customers with cheer and joy.

Tony tried not to let on how much he didn't like the visual taste, but Venom soothed his tension right away. The symbiote moved toward his heart and wrapped himself around it, purring lightly. **It's for _Eddie_ , pit brain. Not you.**

Right. Right, right. This was all about Eddie. Not Tony. Tony was just a host trying to cheer up another host who was suffering depression and needed some personal boosting. He was only here to be dismissed and forgotten once Eddie Brock was mentally healed and Venom returned.

And somehow... Tony was able to hide those hurtful thoughts from Venom who would regret it later on.

Eddie ended up explaining every type of ice-cream texture and flavor there was. He pointed excitedly to different colored boxes and explained the uniqueness behind each one. Tony soon found himself becoming interested, relaxing into the calm environment and enjoying the cheerful, joyous way the news reporter spoke and presented out all kinds of different ice-cream.

Once they were done collecting their chosen bowls of heaven, Eddie lead him to the table closest to the wall and sat across from him. "Wow... you really got a lot there," Eddie said as he looked down at all the different colored ice cream clumps sitting in the billionaire's bowl.

"And that is _your_ fault, I believe," Tony said in mock aggression though his posture lacked anything but simplicity. He sat down and stared at the six different flavors sitting in his bowl, shaking his head stupidly, "I-I'm sorry, I got trampled by some guy swamping me with ideas of what flavor I should try, could you tell me what _exactly_ I got again?"

Eddie laughed in embarrassment, looking away with the most noticeable blush on his face. "Yh-yeah, sure, Tony," he looked back up, his face full of life and bashfulness.

**Eat, eat, eat, eat! We want ice-cream! Go for the _chocolate!_ Chocolate is the best! Just eat it, it doesn't matter!**

Tony could feel his taste buds tingling like his sweaty armpits, but he was too focused on Eddie's adorable face to really think about anything else. Since when had he even thought about another man after what happened with Steve all those years ago? Since when had he just been able to sit back, talk and enjoy his time with someone, someone with good looks, a good personality and a murderous alien holding him hostage? Tony hadn't felt belly butterflies in he didn't know how many years, didn't get a heart beat faster than a couple thuds per second in decades.

Tony listened and watched as Eddie pointed out and named all the various flavors he had chosen. The american dream, brownie batter core, homemade vanilla with chocolate chips, mint chocolate, peanut butter chocolate swirl, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Honestly, it was a bit much for his brain to fully process, and he fingered the table in a moment of stiffness. That was until his belly suddenly rumbled and there was nothing but an angry, pouty, complaining symbiote writhing throughout his body.

"That is quite the variety," Tony said in masked bewilderment, grabbing his spoon and asking, "What is your method of memorizing all these flavors?"

Eddie lowered his head and looked at his own bowl full of many of the same flavors as Tony except with a little bit more strawberry added in the mix. "My dad use to take me here when I was a kid whenever he came home from work," he announced with a small smile, taking his spoon and lifting up a bite of chocolate ice-cream, "It was hardly ever that I got to see him. Sometimes he'd give me money and I'd come up here by myself, waiting for him."

Tony felt a strong punch to the heart, nearly choking on the bite of peanut butter ice-cream in his mouth as it downed upon him why exactly Venom wanted him to suggest this place as a first date decision. And he thought the symbiote was just being selfish....

Eddie grinned, "He never liked chocolate though." He took a bite and looked up at the billionaire, pausing at the look on his face and lowering his spoon in worry, "What's wrong? Taste bad?"

Tony snapped himself out of his mentally stranded state and shook his head. "Oh no, it... It taste really, really good. I-I was just, uhh..." He blinked and looked back up at the news reporter, "It's just... He sounds like a great dad."

Eddie visibly relaxed and nodded, happily taking another bite of his ice-cream. "He could have been around more often. But I can relate," he gestured to a poster on the wall, "I was just like him; totally into photography and journalism with a dash of fame here and there.... He use to bring me pictures of places he had been, famous people he had met, concerts where crazy shit happened. Mom used to hate him for it, but I... I could never get enough."

Tony felt a touch of jealously as he kept eating his ice-cream, paying earnest attention to the peanut butter kind for that was what Venom was currently gargling so excitedly on. But Tony guessed he could get familiar. His dad was definitely not anything perfect, but neither was Eddies.

"I hear ya, bud," Tony said as he swapped to another curious looking flavor that he remembered being mint, "My dad always had a tight shift- so did mom but they had their excuses. So life was pretty much all baby-sitters, eighties rock parties and unnoticeably sneaking out of the house at two in the morning."

Eddie laughed, "Sounds like the teenage dream. My mom ever caught me trying to sneak out, she'd throw my ass in the basement and lock the door."

" _Serious?_ " Tony raised a brow as he-or _Venom_ \- eagerly switched to the next flavor of ice-cream.

Eddie shook his head, "Nah, not really. She wouldn't do that to me, but that goes without saying; I _did_ get my yanky-doodle handed to me whenever I did try to sneak out so it might as well have been like being thrown in the basement."

Tony nodded to show that he was listening. Venom's eager confliction to eat as much ice-cream as possible made it hard to properly respond.

"You're _really_ enjoying that ice-cream, huh?" Eddie raised his brows and took another bite out of his strawberry shortcake scoop. He hadn't even finished one third of his bowl and Tony Stark was already close to being finished with his own.

"Absolutely," Tony answered once he was able to gain his composure, shaking a little and wincing as a sharp pain pierced the middle of his brain, "I take that back..."

" _Brain freeze?_ " Eddie asked, leaning forward on the table, biting his lip in order of not busting into hysterical laughter.

Tony held his head and muttered incomprehensible nonsense about ice-cream into his arm. He could hear Eddie laughing his butt off from across from him and couldn't help but to smile at the sound of his laugh. It was so true, so happy and uplifting. **We can hear you, you know?**

Tony muttered something symbolic into his hand, and it only made Eddie laugh harder. It was _suppose_ to be a groaned out comment to the symbiote, but Eddie obviously only took it as confused raspberries or an attempt to warm his freezing brain.

"Woo," Tony came back to his senses and rubbed his head, "That was not what I had in mind when I mentioned getting ice-cream headache. _Literally_."

Eddie finished his fit of laughter with a wipe to his watering eyes, "That's what happens when you gorge yourself like a dog, Tony."

Tony gave him a brief glare through his fingers, "I'm pointing daggers at you because technically this is _your_ fault, ok, you made me try all these delicious, irresistible, frozen treats and now look what has commenced."

Eddie cupped his own chin and put his elbow on the table, looking at the billionaire with a more than amused expression. "When it comes to trauma, I'll always be the first to step up and take responsibility, but uhh... It was _you_ who decided this place was a good idea to come to although you have zero experience with ice-cream flavors _and_ brain freeze."

Tony lowered his hand but kept his index finger out, "Actually I..." He curled his fingers and tried not to look defeated as he admitted, " _Touché_..."

Eddie laughed softly and Tony had no idea what on earth made him react so positively to the sound of it. **Just admit it, Tony, you _love_ him, you think he's beautiful, you want to hear his voice, you want to _be_ his attention, you want to taste his-**

"I think I want another one," Tony said slyly as he lifted out his mostly empty bowl.

"You didn't finish the chocolate mint or vanilla," Eddie pointed out in mild shock.

Tony bit his lip and tried to appear innocent, "I'm not gonna lie, I'm a chocolate fan through and through. Diabetes runs through our-or I mean- _my_ viens."

Eddie had made a strange, concerning type of laugh at Tony's _joke_ , but thankfully no questions were asked. Tony, with the help of Eddie and the ever so chocolate addicted Venom, picked out a few more ice-cream flavors and sat back down with fresh bowls to start off on a new conversation with.

Tony finally settled down after a few funny ice-cream headaches and friendly exchanged stories. Eddie turned out to be more interesting than he had previously thought. Most people he met, Tony would end up doing all the talking because he _didn't want_ to hear what other people had to say, didn't want to _listen_ to their pathetic stories and ideas. Eddie, however, seemed to be from a completely different dimension.

The old news reporter was kind, funny, had a somewhat healthy, somewhat stable past. He talked a lot about journalism and some of the news reports he used to make. Tony had listened the whole time, taking in information and turning it into admiration like that was his only purpose. He didn't mind that Eddie would stammer and find ways around the alien, end of the world conversation, but he did hope to hear about it sometime. He didn't know exactly what had happened, and Venom sure didn't give any clues, but he _wanted_ to know.

Eddie was having fun too. It was nice to be able to sit back, relax and talk to someone who he could make laugh and smile, and could make him do the same in return. He felt his heart thumping faster and faster during the moments he caught Tony just staring at him with those beautiful, focused brown eyes. Eddie tried to focus on the topics but Tony's eyes seemed to melt through him, and his heart and brain both struggled to keep up with each other.

Tony wasn't the _biggest_ talker, Eddie had come to notice. He answered questions to big events with skill like he had answered them so many times before, however, when it came to anything super personal, Tony would find a way to dodge the conversation and start a new one. Eddie didn't mind. He understood that life as a hero must be difficult in ways he couldn't even think to understand. Or maybe... _He did._

The couple ended up leaving the ice-cream shop after a couple hours and three bowls of ice-cream. Eddie had gotten a _small_ brain freeze while Tony had sufficed into his tummy ache in which he _demanded_ Venom to fix.

"I had a great time," Eddie said to his shoes as they made their way to his apartment.

"Me too. Greatest headaches I've ever had," Tony said in return.

" _So_..." Eddie fumbled with his shirt with his free hand, "What now?"

Tony stopped and pondered the question. **Ask him again! Tell him you'll take him for another chocolate date!** Tony looked at the news reporter and squinted his eyes, "Well... As far as second dates go, I have no idea yet, but I do look forward to seeing you again. When are you free?"

Eddie blushed, a pulse of joy streaming through his heart as he looked at the hero. "I'm off work on weekends and Mondays, but... We don't have to if you're busy. I know the hero life can be hard and all."

"It is, but I'll find ways to make room on my schedule. I am a scientific enthusiast after all," Tony smugly implied. Eddie looked at him with hiddenly bright eyes, and grew with anticipation. "Here..."

Eddie hesitated, blushing when he saw Tony's hand was lifted outward like he wanted to give him something, but he complied. Lifting out his palm, he smiled and looked up at the billionaire, asking softly, "Wh-what's this?"

Tony's warm palm and fingers brushed Eddies as something small and cold fell from his hand. "Just a departing gift," he said, keeping their hands together as he took a step forward, their bodies nearly touching. **Kiss him.** _No._ **Kiss him!** _I can't._ **Kiss him or I'll eat your lips off and regrow them you pussy!**

"The _penny?_ " Eddie asked confusedly. His heart skipped ten dozen beats as the hero man stood directly in front of him, the rich smell of whatever musk he used filling his senses with brain dizzying butterflies. His lashes fluttered and his cheeks darkened, but he didn't back away. Tony's enticing brown eyes contrasted perfectly against the midday sun, and his lips curled ever so slightly. Eddie forgot what breathing was supposed to be, especially when Tony mumbled....

"No... _This_." And their lips met.

It was the smallest and shortest of kisses, but it sent a cascade of energy roaring through Eddie's body, lighting up bits and pieces of him he didn't even know he had. He nearly gasped in that single second, his brain pulsing in time with his struggling lungs and overwhelmed heart. He wanted to relish in Tony's person, his looks, his charm and his incredibly soft lips, but it only lasted for so long.

Tony pulled away with a small sound, giving Eddie's hand a small tug before letting go. "I'll give you a call," he said with a wink, turning around and heading down the sidewalk.

"I..." Eddie couldn't speak. The words were heavy in his brain yet stuck on his tongue. His chest felt tight and refused to allow him to voice his vibrant thoughts. He wanted to ask questions, say something smart or even just _agree_ , but he was too stricken to do anything but think about how much he enjoyed that.

After watching the hero vanish away down the street, Eddie shakily opened up his clenched hand, staring down at the dirty penny inside.

A departing gift, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I do good? Is there anything I could have done better? I live for positive feedback so please give!


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